Cherry and Atticus Meet Dumbo
by PerkyGoth14
Summary: When Darla, Patch, and Amber are having a make believe circus, Cherry and Atticus recall when they had an adventure in the circus with Atticus as a strong boy and Cherry as an animal tamer. Along the way, they meet a very special elephant named Dumbo who gets discouraged because of his specially large ears.
1. Chapter 1

Darla and Amber were in the backyard, playing with Patch.

"Okay, Patch, let's see what you can do," Amber took out a hoop. "Come here, boy, jump through the hoop!"

Patch smiled, he wagged his tail, ran up and jumped through the hoop like a circus dog.

"Good boy, Patch!" Amber cheered. "That was like in the circus."

"I wish I could be in the circus, it looks like a lot of fun." Darla smiled.

"Not a lot of circuses are fun..." Cherry said as she was under a tree in the shade.

"Yeah, trust us, we've been through that experience before." Atticus said.

"Let me guess, this was way before you adopted me as your pet, right?" Patch asked.

"Exactly." Atticus said.

"Was this before after the orphanage then?" Darla asked.

"After," Cherry said. "It was much after I found my parents, I believe it was at least a month or two after we were in Mount Olympus and Zeus rewarded Atticus with his strength."

"Ooh, story time!" Darla was excited.

"Yay!" Amber cheered.

"Well, then gather around as we tell you the story of how we were in a circus and also how we met Dumbo." Atticus said, sounding like a narrator.

"I know this was sometime after we found my parents and you stayed with us since we didn't know yours yet..." Cherry added. "It was just a normal day..."

* * *

 ** _Sometime Ago..._**

"Cherry, could you wake up Atticus for breakfast?" Michelle asked.

"ATTICUS! BREAKFAST!" Cherry yelled as she sat down to eat her morning meal for the first time in about a week.

Michelle gave her daughter a look.

"Oh," Cherry chuckled nervously. "You mean go to and wake him up..." she then went to the guest room which was used as Atticus's bedroom after she moved back in and reunited with her parents, she then knocked on the door. "Atticus... Breakfast..."

"I'm coming." Atticus told her before getting up and stretching, accidentally making a hole in a wall close to him. "Huh? That was weird, I must have gotten stronger overnight or something."

Cherry went back to the kitchen as she sat in her seat. "He's coming."

Michelle gave a plate of cheesy scrambled eggs with strips of bacon and a pancake drenched in syrup. Cherry smiled and started to eat right away. They then heard the door from the guest bed room where Atticus was staying in, break off for some reason.

Bud was about to join his wife and daughter to breakfast and rushed to the guest room. "Atticus, are you okay!?" He was surprised to see the boy holding up an entire door with his right hand from the door knob.

"I swear, I did not mean to do this, I don't even know how I got this strong..." Atticus said before remembering the reward he got from Zeus. "So it wasn't a dream."

"My goodness..." Bud was a little shocked. "I'll have to fix this after breakfast..."

Atticus stared at his hands as he walked down the hallway to Cherry's kitchen table. He looked very shocked and looked all around him.

"I know, Cherry's eating breakfast, such an odd sight..." Michelle misunderstood his shock with a joking giggle. "What would you like, Atticus? We got eggs, pancakes, and bacon this morning."

"Huh? Oh, um, all three please." Atticus told her.

Michelle nodded and fixed up a plate for him.

Cherry kept eating and looked to Atticus. "You okay, dude?"

"Cherry, that dream we had while we had fallen asleep at the museum, it was real." Atticus told her.

"You think so?" Cherry asked as she then took a sip of her juice.

"Yes, because upstairs, I was able to take the door off it's hinges after opening it." Atticus told her.

"Hm..." Cherry pressed her lips together.

"Yeah..." Atticus nodded to her.

"You better hope Dad can fix it..." Cherry shrugged.

Michelle came back with a plate for Atticus. "So, what's the plan today, you guys?"

"Well, there's going to be a circus in town, maybe we could go to that." Atticus suggested.

"There's a circus coming to town?" Cherry asked.

"Ah, I think my friend Tina told me about that the other day..." Michelle smiled. "That sounds like fun."

"Cool! I hope they have a strongman in their circus." Atticus said excitedly, noticing that he was bending his fork. "Oops..."

"I never did like those types, they always seemed so cocky and full of themselves..." Michelle pouted, not noticing the bent fork.

"Guess we're going to the circus today." Cherry said.

"Just make sure you eat your breakfast first!" Bud called as he used his tape measure around the door, planning on fixing it for the day.

"Honey, what are you doing up there!? It's time to eat!" Michelle called out to her husband.

"Just checking out the door first!" Bud called back, his inner workman being unleashed.

"You can never stop Daddy doing what he's doing when it involves craft work." Cherry sighed.

"So true." Michelle sighed.

"These pancakes are delicious!" Atticus smiled after tasting one of the stacks.

Michelle smiled. "Why, thank you!"

"You coming with us to the circus, Mom?" Cherry asked.

"I can drop you off, but I'm afraid I got stores to report," Michelle replied. "Hopefully when I finish, the circus will be over and then I can have you guys come back home in time for dinner."

"Okay." Atticus and Cherry said.

"Are there any clowns?" Cherry asked, shuffling her hands.

Atticus shrugged. "Maybe..."

"Guh..." Cherry shuddered. "Hopefully they don't hit me with a pie in the face or spray me with a flower."

"If any of them try anything, I'll give them a knuckle sandwich." Atticus said.

Cherry let out a small chuckle as she continued to eat.

* * *

After breakfast, Cherry and Atticus got dressed while Michelle got her work stuff together to take the two to the circus to spend their day while Bud was fixing up the guest room door and where hopefully it would be done today.

"Now, remember, stick together and no wondering off from each other." Michelle told them while driving the two of them to the circus.

"Yeah, Mom." Cherry nodded.

Michelle came to a stoplight, then handed some money. "Here's some money for snacks and of course, your tickets."

"Thanks." Atticus took the money and handed it to Cherry.

Cherry took it and put it in a safe spot in her pocket.

"Have fun and don't get into any trouble." Michelle said.

"Okay, Mom..." Cherry said then with a small smile. "Don't worry."

Michelle smiled as she kept driving until she would get to the stop. "If anything happens, you can always call me."

"We know, Mom." Cherry said.

Michelle nodded as she kept driving. Cherry and Atticus stared out the windows until they would be dropped off, wondering what the circus would await them.

 _'Maybe this circus will have elephant ears, the good kind.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

"Hmm..." Cherry lightly hummed.

* * *

Soon, Michelle rode them up. "Here you go..." she told her passengers. "I'll see you guys later."

"See ya, Mom." Cherry siad as she unhooked her seat-belt and left the car.

"See ya, Mrs. Butler." Atticus said as he unhooked his seat-belt and left the car with her.

Michelle waved to them and then drove off to get her work started for the day. Cherry and Atticus then went to join the people visiting the circus today. All they had to do to see the circus from inside was to buy their tickets.

* * *

Before officially going in, Cherry and Atticus took a small look to see what was there to offer at the circus. There were animals in their cages that people passed by to see until a show would start in one of the tents. One gorilla snarled, he shook the bars of his cage so hard that he accidentally broke one bar off and tried to sneak it back in place before anyone would see.

"Cool, animals, can't wait to see what human performers they have." Atticus said.

"I hope it's not cliche like a bearded lady..." Cherry said as they looked at the various caged animals who did not seem to be too bothered with the fact that they were in cages.

"Yeah, that would just be boring." Atticus said while now looking for human performers.

There was a brown mouse in a red uniform who was wandering around the ground, being very careful not to get stepped on by any unsuspecting humans. Atticus continued to look around for any human performers, especially since one of them was his favorite act. Cherry hummed as she looked around, then noticed Atticus wasn't by her side, so she rushed over to him.

 _'Should be around here somewhere.'_ Atticus thought to himself while looking for the strongman's tent.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" Cherry asked.

Atticus flinched slightly since she came from nowhere, but settled down. "Looking for the strongman's tent."

"I think I heard people saying his name was Atlas..." Cherry shrugged.

"Perfect, so all we have to do is find him." Atticus said.

Cherry and Atticus wandered to look for the strongest man in the circus.

* * *

There was an elephant mother who was inside one tent and was resting until she woke up. She looked around with wonder, she spotted the two kids and smiled once to them. Cherry and Atticus gave friendly waves, wondering if they should ask her or not.

"Um... Excuse me, ma'am..." Cherry walked over to the female elephant. "Do you know where the strongman is?"

"He's in the tent right over there." The female elephant told them, pointing her trunk to the left north west.

"Thanks." Atticus said.

"Yes, thank you, umm..." Cherry replied, drawling out.

"Jumbo," the mother elephant told her. "Mrs. Jumbo."

"Thank you, Mrs. Jumbo, see in the circus." Atticus and Cherry said to her before going over to the tent that the strongman was in getting himself ready.

Mrs. Jumbo smiled to them and went back to resting.

* * *

The strong man had tan skin and had wavy red hair. He was lifting a bar bell up and down, counting himself as he brought it up and down, he seemed to be straining, but not too much. Cherry and Atticus walked over to see him as he was preparing himself.

 _'He sure doesn't relax for a second.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

The man roared and threw down the bar bell, then smiled smugly as he flexed his muscles, then looked to Atticus and Cherry. Cherry and Atticus plainly and simply smiled back.

"What do you children want and why are you here without a guardian or permission?" the strongman demanded.

Cherry stepped behind Atticus for protection. "We just wanted to meet you, sir."

"Yeah, it's just that we've never seen a strongman before and wanted to see one live and in person." Atticus told them.

"Well, that was only practice, the real show will begin in the big top and the stupid strength test thing will be in it too to see if anyone can match my strength," Atlas scoffed before smirking before lifting up a fifty pound weight and started to lift it up and down with one hand. "Like anyone will ever defeat me, I'm the strongest man in the world."

"Maybe you'd like to see what I can do?" Atticus offered.

Atlas looked to the boy and laughed out loud. "Oh, you're very funny, little one... Nobody's stronger than me!"

"Wanna bet?" Cherry narrowed her eyes, slightly angry since a friend of hers was being picked on and she did not take kindly to that.

"Listen, I gotta keep up my strength," Atlas said, putting down the fifty pound weight and then picks up the 500 pound dumbbell weights and starts lifting them up. "So, go and wait for the show to start before I use these on you two."

Atticus wanted to show this guy his new strength, but decided to wait until the challenge.

"You can take him..." Cherry said.

"I know I can..." Atticus looked sharply determined.

Cherry shrugged. "Guess I'll watch... I can't even lift a live chicken."

They both then left the strongman's tent and made their way to the big top.

"So, what will you do to show up that cocky jerk?" Cherry asked.

"You know I will..." Atticus said determined.

"I guess next you run away and join the circus after showing up that egomaniac..." Cherry joked, showing her dark sense of humor again. "If I meet another guy who's that big and strong and can hurt me just by snapping his fingers, I think I'll drop off the brink of sanity."

"Oh, please, the only way I would join the circus is if the ringmaster was evil and would be using my own strength against me." Atticus scoffed.

"You're better than that..." Cherry walked with him to explore.


	2. Chapter 2

More female elephants came to where Mrs. Jumbo was and decided to see her.

"I wonder why the others going to see Mrs. Jumbo?" Cherry thought out loud.

"I don't know, maybe they're expecting like a baby or something." Atticus shrugged.

"Oh... Makes sense..." Cherry nodded then. "I guess she'll have a baby soon... Hmm... Wonder if we'll meet the baby... Never saw a baby elephant before."

"Maybe we will, maybe we won't." Atticus said.

"Oh, well..." Cherry shrugged.

A man with a black top hat was putting his hat on and going to a tent.

"Must be the ringmaster..." Cherry guessed. "Hope he's not like Uncle Al."

"Well, we'll soon find out in the big top." Atticus said.

"Let's take a look around until they announce." Cherry then suggested.

With that, Cherry and Atticus wandered around the fair ground.

* * *

"You ready, big guy?" the ringmaster asked Atlas as he smiled smugly in the mirror like he was in love with his own reflection.

"I sure am, boss." Atlas told the ringmaster with a smug smile.

The ringmaster hid an eye roll over Atlas's narcissism. "There's a lot of kids out there, go be their hero."

"I sure will." Atlas said with a smug smile.

"And remember, we are still having that challenge." The ringmaster told him.

"Right, like there's any doubt..." Atlas laughed.

"True, but still, I know how funny it is to you, so that's why we do it to keep you happy and besides, we might get another member to the circus and where he or she will be your partner while a friend of his or hers will also come along, but we keep that part secret." The ringmaster said.

"Gotcha..." Atlas chuckled. "Oh, I almost feel sorry for those victims..."

"Be ready in about five," the ringmaster told him. "I'll make up a contract."

"Perfect, either way, it will be entertaining." Atlas said.

The ringmaster gave a thumb's up and left to his own tent. "This'll be a great closing show for this town."

* * *

A lion was circling its cage as Cherry stared back and then it came up close and roared in her face, blowing her hair back.

Cherry slid her glasses off, rubbed them against her shirt. "Very good..." she then pushed her glasses back. "My turn..." she then cleared her throat and roared viciously back at the big cat.

The lion mewed weakly like a kitten and backed up.

"That's what I thought." Cherry glanced.

"You amaze me sometimes, Cherry." Atticus said to his best friend.

"I'm just full of surprises, you can never tell what I'm going to do next." Cherry told him.

Atticus lightly laughed to this.

Cherry checked the time. "Come on... Come on..." she then looked to the center where the show would be held and she was getting impatient. "Get started already!"

As if on cue, people began to come right in and the show was going to start very soon.

"Finally..." Cherry groaned.

"Come on, let's get a seat." Atticus told her.

Cherry nodded and followed him.

* * *

They both entered inside with the rest of the crowd and decided to sit on the bottom bleachers. The female elephants were getting in position as there was upbeat circus music now playing.

"Well, girls, it's time for the show to start." The first elephant told the rest.

Another elephant giggled like an easily impressed child. "Oh, I just know they'll love us!"

"Why wouldn't they?" The second elephant asked with a scoff.

"Now, girls..." Mrs. Jumbo giggled to them, settling them out. "We're all wonderful in our own special and unique way."

"Yes we are, thank you for reminding us that, Mrs. Jumbo." The first elephant told her.

Mrs. Jumbo giggled as she stood with her fellow elephants.

* * *

Soon a little while later, the ringmaster came into the center of the huge tent. The audience then ended their personal and private conversations until the show started and they all started to shush each other.

 _'And the show is about to start.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys, and girls, welcome to the Casey Junior circus!" the ringmaster introduced. "This is our final show in this town as we'll be packing up to leave first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Aww..." some of the kids groaned in dismay.

"However, we promise to come back to your wonderful town again very soon!" the ringmaster continued with a friendly smile.

"Yay!" The kids and adults cheered.

"And don't forget, we are still having our challenge to see who can match the strength of our one and only strongman Atlas and to see if one of you will be the lucky winner!" The ringmaster told them.

Atticus was really looking forward to that part.

"But first, may I introduce our lovely elephants?" the ringmaster introduced. "Our Matriarch, Mrs. Jumbo, Catty, Prissy, and Giddy!"

Each of the elephants came in as their names were mentioned and everyone in the crowd began to cheer as each elephant came in. Mrs. Jumbo seemed to stare off into space, but she did come when her name was called.

 _'She seems distant, she must be waiting for something, but what?'_ Atticus thought to himself.

After the elephants, next was the rest of the circus before Atlas and the challenge. The elephants wowed and amazed the crowd with their performance.

"Good show, ladies, really good show..." the ringmaster smiled to the elephants.

Mrs. Jumbo gave a sweet smile while her fellow pachyderms looked rather smug about his compliment. The ringmaster then introduced the clowns.

"Of course..." Cherry lowly scoffed.

"Oh, great." Atticus said with rolled eyes, even somehow finding these clowns annoying.

Cherry leaned back and folded her arms. The clowns came in their tiny car and filed out one-by-one and did their lame juggling tricks and making most of the audience laugh at their pain and expense. Cherry visibly yawned and folded her arms.

 _'They're good, not great, but good.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

"Next..." Cherry rolled her eyes.

The clowns ended by shooting each other out of cannons and landed in cream pies which splashed over the audience. They then took their leave and the crowd cheered them off.

"Thank goodness..." Cherry was relieved.

"Hopefully the next act is more entertaining." Atticus whispered to her.

Cherry slowly nodded, feeling bored that they came to this circus.

It seemed to take forever, but the ringmaster had finally introduced Atlas.

 _'Finally!'_ Atticus thought to himself.

* * *

Atlas grinned to the crowd and waved to show off his strength until the little contest after his act. The crowd was amazed at what he could do like they had never seen anything like it before. Cherry was not all that impressed though, after Atticus got his strength, anyone else who was not a god or superhero who was that strong just bored her. Atlas did his act by lifting up a 500 pound dumbbell weight and where this did impress the entire crowd except for Cherry and Atticus.

"Ugh, I wish I had a fancy phone like everybody else..." Cherry took out her flip phone and stabbed the buttons just to get on the internet which took what felt like an hour.

After Atlas's act, it was now finally time for the challenge.

"Now, as you all know, whoever can match Atlas the strongman's strength or maybe even is stronger than him wins!" The ringmaster told everyone while Atlas was flexing his muscles. "Now who feels like he can beat or match his or her strength against the mighty Atlas!"

"I'll take the challenge!" Atticus's voice called out.

The audience gasped and turned to Atticus, thinking he was silly or dumb for his request. Cherry pointed to Atticus.

"You dare challenge the world's strongest man?" Atlas laughed. "This'll be fun... Hopefully he doesn't cry when I beat him since I'm a grown man and he's a mere child..."

"You better hope so..." the ringmaster said to him, then called out to Atticus. "Step right up then, young lad!"

Atticus then came up from the bleachers and went up to the strongman. Cherry lightly clapped.

"A round of applause for the brave and daring boy!" the ringmaster told the crowd.

Everybody else clapped for Atticus.

"You dare challenge me?" Atlas laughed. "You probably can barely lift your school textbooks let alone a dumbbell!"

* * *

Atticus ignores his comment and went over to the dumbbell, ready to lift it up. Atlas hid an amused chuckle, like he was expecting Atticus to fail and make a fool of himself. He really was a selfish and vain bully when it came to his own personal strength. Little did he know, he was the one who was going to be shown up and not Atticus. Atticus bent down and grabbed the 500 pound weight dumbbell and lifted it up with a few grunts even if it wasn't that hard. Atlas laughed at first, then the ringmaster nudged him, he then stopped laughing once he saw what Atticus had done.

The audience oohed and awed in surprise and amazement. Atticus then bent the dumbbell into a loop which amazed everyone once again. Cherry quietly clapped, she had already seen this all before, so she wasn't as impressed, but she was surprised to learn that her and Atticus's adventure with Hercules was not a dream.

"Looks like you got some competition." the ringmaster chuckled to Atlas.

"Just get the contract ready." Atlas whispered to the ringmaster.

The ringmaster took a brief leave. Atticus laughed as he used his new strength that was rewarded to him for saving Hercules and bringing him back to Mount Olympus.

"You from Krypton or somethin', boy?" Atlas scoffed.

"No, just gifted with incredible strength." Atticus smirked.

Atlas snarled and looked like he really wanted to hurt Atticus for showing him up. Atticus put the bar bell down and smiled to the crowd as they cheered for him.

"I know him!" Cherry told the crowd, pointing to Atticus. "I know him!"

Atlas began to try to straighten out the dumbbell as best as he could.

"Guess you're not so strong now, eh?" Atticus laughed a little.

Atlas glared to him. "You're such a fool..."

Atticus straightened the dumbbell out for him before letting it drop to the ground. This made the audience thump slightly.

* * *

"Oh, my..." one of the female elephants said to the Matriarch. "He seems rather good for his size..."

"So it seems..." the Matriarch looked to Atticus long and hard.

"He must have been gifted with that strength somehow." Mrs. Jumbo said.

"Yes..." the Matriarch rolled her eyes.

"I think he's cute!" one of the female elephants giggled.

"Oh, brother..." The Matriarch groaned.

* * *

"Mercy me!" the ringmaster rushed to Atticus's side with a contract. "You are brilliant, my boy! Your parents must be so proud of you!"

"Oh, um, I-I don't know if I have any parents." Atticus frowned.

This caused for everyone to gasp.

Atticus shuffled his foot to the ground with his hands behind his back.

"He lives with me," Cherry walked over. "I found out who my parents were and reunited with them, but I didn't want Atticus to be alone since he's my best friend and I offered to let him stay with us."

"Oh, how kind of you." The ringmaster smiled. "Now why don't I speak with Atticus alone?"

"I don't like this..." Cherry said softly, she then walked away and accidentally ran into the elephants. "Whoa!"

"Oh, careful!" Mrs. Jumbo helped her up with her trunk.

Cherry patted herself down and smiled to Mrs. Jumbo.


	3. Chapter 3

The ringmaster and Atticus then went into his tent/office.

"What did you want to talk to me about, sir?" Atticus asked.

"I would like you to be part of our Casey Junior circus family..." the ringmaster said, he seemed to have a rather fiendish smile for some reason. "After all, you just said you didn't have a family of your own... So, I would like you to become a star attraction for us... Just think about it! We travel all around the country and people will pay big bucks just to see your super and special talent!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I couldn't just leave Cherry and her family out of nowhere." Atticus said.

"Hmm... Too bad..." the ringmaster folded his arms. "I thought we could make something of you... After all, you're an orphan and orphans are just as good as living on the ground forever... You'll get a lot of money, fame, and fortune, anything your little heart desires!"

"I don't know..." Atticus said.

"And besides, if you don't sign, then you'll be known to everyone as a freak." The ringmaster said.

"A freak...?" Atticus whispered, feeling hurt by that term.

"Oh, yes, everybody knows if you're not apart of a circus and have special skills, you're a freak," the ringmaster told him. "You don't want to go back home and have everyone think of you like that, now do you?"

Atticus began to think about that and sighed. "Where do I sign?" he then asked in defeat.

"Just initial here, here, and here, and sign at the very bottom next to the X." the ringmaster smiled darkly, holding out the contract to him and clicked the pen for him to use.

Atticus grabbed the pen and started to sign the contract while regretting to do this, knowing that he wouldn't see Cherry ever again or her family.

"Excellent..." the ringmaster smiled darkly.

Atticus frowned since he was never going to see Cherry again and it made him cry, she may not had been actually, but she was like family to him.

"Now you'll just need a circus uniform like Atlas's." The ringmaster said.

Atticus slowly nodded.

Cherry couldn't help but listen in and she was a little angry. "You can't take my best friend away from me!"

"I can and I will, especially after he signed this legal contract." The ringmaster smirked evilly.

"NO!" Cherry refused. "I won't let you!"

"I'm sorry, Cherry..." Atticus bowed his head with his eyes shut.

"Unless you would like to join him." The ringmaster said to her.

"What?" Cherry put her hands on her hips.

"Join the circus, or leave now and never see your friend again." the ringmaster tempted.

Cherry thought it over and sighed, shutting her eyes. "I know I'm gonna regret this..."

"Perfect." The ringmaster smiled evilly before bringing up the contract for her to sign.

Cherry frowned uneasily, but she skimmed over the words as she gripped the pen and was ready to sign it.

"You don't have to do this..." Atticus said to his oldest friend.

"I must..." Cherry insisted, feeling like a slave. She began to sign the contract as she finished signing the contract her mother came into the tent before gasping.

"Oh, hello there, ma'am, did you enjoy the show?" the ringmaster asked, not knowing her.

"Cherry," Michelle rushed over. "What's going on?"

"Mom, I have to help Atticus..." Cherry told her mother.

"They are now part of the circus." The ringmaster told her.

"Nobody's putting my baby in a circus or her friends!" Michelle hugged Cherry then.

"We got a contract, lady..." the ringmaster showed her that Cherry and Atticus signed the contracts. "They are now legally mine."

Michelle was about to tell him off and say that he couldn't do that, but saw that the contract was indeed legal.

"Mom...?" Cherry lowly moaned.

Michelle had tears in her eyes. "I can't believe this..."

"Sorry, but they are officially mine." The ringmaster smiled evilly before putting the contract away.

"NO!" Michelle grew devastated. "My baby..."

Cherry came to her mother and gave her one last hug. "It's okay, Mom, I'm sure we'll be okay..."

"Yeah." Atticus said.

"Before anything else, these two need to get into their circus uniforms, by the way, little girl, what are you good at?" The ringmaster asked.

Cherry shrugged. "Finding the dark side in everything."

Michelle was too emotional to say or do anything.

"Hmm, you'll have to be our animal tamer." The ringmaster said.

"I guess..." Cherry held herself.

The ringmaster came up to Michelle and pushed her out of the tent/office. "Run along now, go back in the kitchen and start cooking for your husband, your daughter is mine now."

"Goodbye, Mom..." Cherry said lowly.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Butler..." Atticus added.

Michelle sniffled, she then went back to her car and decided to just drive home since there was nothing else she could really do.

"Now you two, go into the dressing rooms and put these on." The ringmaster told them before giving the two of them the new clothes they would wear.

* * *

Cherry watched as her mother's car drove off without them, she then sighed and followed the ringmaster as she was now going to be a circus girl with Atticus. Atticus's uniform was like a strongman costume only it was in his size and Cherry's uniform was a suit with a whip. Cherry did not like the bow tie, she stuck her tongue out at it, but she wore it anyway.

"Oh, the next town is going to just love you two," the ringmaster smiled darkly, then turned to Atlas. "Uh, I hope you can find business with your life elsewhere, Atlas, it was nice knowing you..."

"This is an outrage!" Atlas snarled, storming off as he was basically fired from his circus occupation.

"Wait, um, why can't the circus have two strongmen, wouldn't that be good for show business?" Atticus asked.

"Sorry, but it was in his contract, he's on the streets and I don't bend the rules for anybody!" the ringmaster selfishly replied. But he then thought about what Atticus said and where he began to imagine all of the money that he would gain and how many people would come to see two strongmen instead of just one.

Atticus merely shrugged.

"Excuse me..." the ringmaster walked off then.

Cherry came to see the female elephants. "Mrs. Jumbo, are you okay?" she asked the kindest out of all the elephants. "You seemed to have your mind elsewhere during your act today."

"Oh, forgive me, young one, I just have a lot on my mind..." Mrs. Jumbo smiled bashfully. "I'm expecting a special delivery..."

"Is it a baby?" Cherry assumed.

"Yes, as a mater of fact, it is, I've been waiting for Mr. Stork to deliver it to me." Mrs. Jumbo told her.

"Guess he hasn't come yet, huh?" Cherry asked.

Mrs. Jumbo sighed. "No, but I'm a little tired of waiting... I'm really excited and a little nervous, I just hope I'll be a wonderful mother."

"I'm sure you will, ma'am." Cherry encouraged.

"Oh, thank you and I hope your friend's kindness will be able to rub off on Atlas." Mrs. Jumbo said.

"I hope so..." Cherry said softly as she looked back. "Atlas seems like a real Gaston..."

"Whom?" Mrs. Jumbo wondered.

"Never mind it for now..." Cherry said, then gently rubbed her trunk in a petting gesture. "Well, I guess I could make a living at the circus and never see my parents again..."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Mrs. Jumbo frowned.

"I'll be okay..." Cherry said softly. "It'll be like when me and Atticus lived with Cinderella."

"Good to know." Mrs. Jumbo said.

"So, what happens after the final show in the county?" Cherry asked.

"We clean up, get in the train, and get ready to go to the next town," Mrs. Jumbo explained. "Maybe your friend could help set up tents and we have a parade on the first day of a new gig after we get some sleep after an exhausting travel."

"I see..." Cherry shrugged. "Oh, well, I always wanted to go around the world."

* * *

While they were talking, the ringmaster was agreeing with Atticus's idea.

"Atlas, come back here!" the ringmaster called.

Atlas scoffed and walked over. "What now?"

"You're not fired, you and Atticus are going to be partners." The ringmaster said.

"Partners!?" Atlas sneered. "I share the spotlight with no one!"

"It's that or nothing, buddy," Atticus folded his arms at the egocentric man. "Be thankful, I saved your career!"

Atlas hated to admit it, but Atticus was right, Atticus didn't have to save his career. "All right, but don't make me look stupid, kid!"

"I won't." Atticus said.

Atlas folded his arms. "Right..." he then nodded once.

"Well, let's get ready for our next travel on the train then!" the ringmaster proclaimed.

The ringmaster then left the two alone to tell the others.

"This is gonna be fun... I guess..." Atticus shrugged. "What have I got to lose?"

"Just don't show me up." Atlas glared.

"I won't..." Atticus rolled his eyes slightly. "Sheesh..."

"Good that we have an understanding," Atlas said. "Now, come on, we gotta help bring everything down so then we can get to the next town and while we're getting to the next town, you are going to have to exercise a lot with me if you are going to have muscles to show your strength."

"Yeah, yeah..." Atticus laughed, Atlas felt like a boorish older brother substitute, but he went along with it.

Once everything was settled, it was time to load up the train and clean up to go to the next stop.


	4. Chapter 4

The workers started to sing about their Casey Junior train.

"Is the song really necessary?" Atticus whispered.

"Unfortunately, it is. Sad, but true." Atlas whispered back with a groan.

Cherry sighed as they were now leaving the circus area, which also meant she was leaving her parents for the rest of her life. Atticus helped clean up and joined her in a box car. Once the train was all set up, they then took their leave. Cherry and Atticus looked to each other, then stared out the back as they were leaving their home and starting their new lives. Atticus was to be with Atlas but the big strongman allowed him and Cherry to spend some time with any of the animals.

* * *

"So, you actually ran away and joined the circus?" Amber asked after the first part of the story. "Wow, and I thought Mom's Madame Raya job was a hassle."

"So what happened next?" Darla asked.

"We had a rather long ride, it lasted for a couple of days, but of course we stopped," Cherry explained. "But, before we got to our new town, something wonderfully amazing happened."

"What?" Darla and Amber asked.

"We met Dumbo." Cherry smiled then.

"Now we get to find out how you two met Dumbo." Patch smiled.

"We're getting to that..." Atticus chuckled to his puppy.

"I hear baby elephants can weigh 200 pounds." Amber randomly said.

"I used to know an elephant..." Darla rubbed her arm slightly.

"Anyway, please continue." Patch said.

"Well, we'll skip the ride until that day we met Dumbo." Cherry suggested to spare them the boredom of riding on train tracks for a rather long while.

* * *

 _ **On Casey Junior Train...**_

Cherry yawned and stretched, she got up steadily and decided to check on the animals, they were all still asleep, but the elephants seemed awake, so she decided to go see them. Atticus was awake as well so he decided to check on the elephants as well. Cherry yawned and rubbed her eye.

"Still tired?" Atticus asked.

"Yeah, who knew train rides could be boring?" Cherry mumbled.

They came in and saw Mrs. Jumbo as she still looked a little lost and lonely.

"Looks like her special delivery hasn't arrived yet." Cherry said.

"So it is a baby?" Atticus asked.

"Yeah, she said the stork should come anytime now though..." Cherry folded her arms.

Mrs. Jumbo sighed, she looked over to the human kids, and smiled simply to them, waving with her trunk to them. The two kids waved back to her.

"He must have gotten lost or something if he's this late." Atticus said.

"I don't know..." Mrs. Jumbo said softly. "I was just really hoping soon..."

"Boy or girl?" Cherry casually asked.

"I don't know that either, but either way, I will love the baby the way he or she is." Mrs. Jumbo said.

They then over heard someone call out Mrs. Jumbo's name.

"Who said that?" Cherry wondered.

The other female elephants stuck their trunks out and called out to who was calling for the expecting future mother. And where to their luck, it was a stork who seemed to have something bundled up.

* * *

"Whew, at last!" Mr. Stork grew relieved once he met the female elephants. "Which one of you ladies is expecting?"

The elephants shook their heads and declined.

"Certainly not," the Matriarch singled herself out, then gestured to Mrs. Jumbo. "Over there, of course."

"This would be the lucky one, sir." Atticus said while pointing to Mrs. Jumbo.

"Oh, of course," Mr. Stork flew over to Mrs. Jumbo, taking out a piece of paper. "'Here is a baby with eyes of blue, straight from heaven, right to you'-"

Mrs. Jumbo extended her trunk to open the bundle.

"Or is it, 'straight from heaven, up above, here is a baby for you to love'?" Mr. Stork felt confused then.

"Very catchy." Atticus said.

Mrs. Jumbo reached to open the bundle again.

"Sign here, please." Mr. Stork handed a notebook.

"She's expecting a baby, not a package." Cherry told the stork.

"Rules are rules." Mr. Stork replied to her.

* * *

Darla folded her arms. "Do babies really come from storks?" she asked her foster brother and older friend.

"Uhhh..." Cherry and Atticus looked to each other bashfully.

"Let's save that question for later." Patch said.

"Yes... Let's..." Cherry said.

* * *

 ** _Back to the story..._**

Mrs. Jumbo signed an X on the line, very anxious to meet her new baby, she then reached to open her bundle yet again.

"One moment please, this is still part of the service," Mr. Stork halted, then took out a whistle and started to sing Happy Birthday to the newborn elephant. The song was going great until Mr. Stork was stuck on the name since the baby wasn't named yet. "Dear... Dear... Dear me, what's his name?"

Mrs. Jumbo had a name picked out already now that she knew she was going to have a son. "Jumbo Junior..." she said softly.

"Oh, Jumbo Jr, huh?" Mr. Stork smiled. "Okay, Jumbo Jr..." he then blew the whistle and started his song over for the baby.

It continued on as he began to finish the song. As he did, he accidentally got caught on a mail post, but was able to finish his song as the train left without him then.

"Oh, do hurry, dear." Prissy urged Mrs. Jumbo so they could meet the new elephant.

"I'm on pins and needles!" Giddy squealed.

"Ah, this is a proud, proud day..." the Matriarch smiled proudly.

"Now hurry up and open it, dear." Catty urged.

"Yeah, open it, I can't wait to see the baby elephant." Atticus said.

Mrs. Jumbo unwrapped the bundle and let the sheet drop to show the baby. The elephant was rather small and was wrapped up in his ears and had shiny blue eyes, leaving everybody in awe at the sight of him.

"Hey, little guy..." Cherry even cooed at the baby elephant.

"Hey there, little guy." Atticus cooed.

"Oh, he is a darling little baby..." Giddy smiled.

"Adorable," the Matriarch praised. "Simply adorable."

"Did you ever see anything so cunning?" Prissy asked.

The elephant baby smiled to the company he was given.

"You must be so proud." Atticus smiled at Mrs. Jumbo.

"I really am..." Mrs. Jumbo was so happy to have finally meet and earn her baby boy.

The Matriarch bent down and tickled the baby with her trunk. The baby sniffled as he felt something strange and finally, he let out after a long breath, he sneezed and his ears popped out, showing that they were quite large, even for a baby elephant.

"Bless-WHOA!" Cherry was surprised.

"Well, that's surprising." Atticus said.

The elephants were surprised, but in somewhat a bad way.

"Is it possible?" the Matriarch asked.

"Isn't there some mistake?" Prissy added.

"Just look at those," Giddy was about to say before whispering into the elephant next to her in her own ear. "E-A-R-S."

"Those what?" Catty asked before realizing and laughing. "Oh, ears! Aren't they funny?" she then picked up one of the baby's ears with her trunk in a mocking way.

"Hey leave him alone!" Atticus told them.

Mrs. Jumbo slapped Giddy's trunk. The other female elephants recoiled in shock like they hadn't done anything wrong.

"That's MEAN!" Cherry was angry with the female elephants now. "He's just a baby!"

"Yeah! How would you feel if someone said something mean about you?!" Atticus glared at the female elephants.

"Oh, my goodness." Prissy gasped.

"What tempers..." Catty commented.

"Oh, what did I do?" Giddy asked. "Tell me, did I say anything?"

"Pretty harmless remark." the Matriarch added in defense.

"You were being bullies to him!" Atticus told them.

"I just said that they're funny, and they are funny." Giddy defended herself.

"They certainly are." Catty agreed.

"After all, who cares about her precious little Jumbo?" Prissy scoffed.

"Jumbo?" Catty replied. "You mean 'Dumbo'."

"Why you!" Atticus glared.

The other female elephants just kept laughing while bullying and teasing the baby. Cherry held the baby elephant and glared to them, she may had been dark and depressing at times, but even she had standards. Atticus saw what was keeping the female elephants' top door open and began to whisper to Mrs. Jumbo of what to do to the bully female elephants. Mrs. Jumbo saw that and nodded, agreeing with him. She then moved her trunk up to the screw and unlatched it as her friends laughed at her baby and the door slammed shut, silencing Catty, Prissy, Giddy, and the Matriarch.

* * *

Cherry stuck her tongue out firmly with a nod, then looked back to Mrs. Jumbo and the baby. "You okay?"

"Thank you for not laughing..." Mrs. Jumbo sounded thankful.

"You're welcome." Atticus and Cherry smiled.

"Hey, Junior, don't be sad..." Cherry knelt down next to the baby. "Everybody gets bullied, but it was very unfair they did it to you and you were just born, but don't worry, when you get older, bullies won't bother you, and we don't think your ears are weird, we think you're special just the way you are."

"Yeah." Atticus nodded.

"You are both such wonderful children..." Mrs. Jumbo praised them.

"Hey, just look at me..." Cherry stood up straight then. "I get hurt all the time, but I always come out on top."

"You get hurt a lot?" Mrs. Jumbo asked in concern.

"Yeah... I don't get it either..." Cherry shrugged. "I just get a lot of bad luck."

"Yeah." Atticus said.

"Atticus! It's time to come back!" Atlas's voice called out.

Atticus sighed at that. "Well, I better get going..."

"Okay... See ya..." Cherry waved to him. "Be careful back there."

"I'll try." Atticus said before going back to Atlas.

Cherry waved to him, then yawned and decided to go back to her boxcar and get some sleep until the train would stop.


	5. Chapter 5

"You wanted to see me?" Atticus walked over to meet Atlas.

"Yes." Atlas nodded before bringing him over to the weights and then picks up a 500 pound weight dumbbell and throws it to Atticus to see if he would catch it and fall to the ground.

Atticus gasped at that and caught the weight. It was a bit heavier than last time and where he did fall to the ground.

"Oops, looks like I painted over the extra zero." Atlas chuckled before wiping off the paint to see the extra zero.

Atticus glared at him before getting up and started to lift it up with his feel strength before walking over to him and then began to tie the dumbbell around his chest and shoulders.

"Impressive, you're as strong as Hercules." Atlas said.

"There's a reason for that..." Atticus laughed at his little inside joke with Atlas's assumption.

Atlas began to try to break free and where he was able to. "Well, so am I or at least half as strong as him, now let's see if you can do it." he then said while doing the same thing to Atticus.

"Hey!" Atticus frowned at that.

"Try it, Muscle Boy, try it!" Atlas laughed.

"Okay then." Atticus smiled before grunting as he began to use all of his strength to break free. He was able to break out of it and then crushed one of the ends of it.

Atlas was both impressed and angered that a little boy could be just as, if not more, strong than him. But for some reason, he didn't let his anger get to him, something about this boy seem to only let him fill a void in him and where this kid could help him with his acts. And so he decided to bring out a box in between them and brought two stools.

"Take a seat, kid, we're going to arm wrestle to see if you are strong as me or stronger." Atlas said.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" Atticus sighed, rolling his eyes.

"If you're not up for it, I understand..." Atlas laughed.

"Oh, I'm up for it." Atticus said before siting down.

"Now we'll see how strong you are against me in this." Atlas said, ready to arm wrestle with him.

"Ladies first..." Atticus smirked, rolling up his one sleeve and held out his arm.

Atlas gripped his hand in his and vice versa and the two started to arm wrestle. And where both were putting all of their strength into it and where it didn't seem to do anything to the other, but it did cause the box to crack and break apart.

"Are you sure that you're not strong as Hercules?" Atticus asked.

"Yes, but for some reason, I suddenly had gotten stronger." Atlas told him.

"Hmm..." Atticus hummed in thought.

* * *

"Could you skip ahead to when you got to the circus ground?" Darla asked. "Hearing you guys being bored on a train ride is kinda boring..."

"Yeah..." Amber actually agreed.

"Yeah, and Atticus, did you and Atlas become friends/brother figures?" Patch asked his owner.

"Well, yes, we'll skip ahead to the circus grounds and as for the becoming friends/brother figures, you'll find out during the story." Atticus said.

Patch frowned that he had to wait, but kept patient.

* * *

The sun was starting to set as the train traveled down the train tracks. There was a small town as the clouds turned black and it started to rain. No matter though, the train stopped and they were at their new destination which meant it was time to advertise and get the circus ready.

"Sounds like we've arrived at our destination." Atticus said.

Cherry yawned and stretched. Dumb poked his head out the window once he noticed that they had stopped, some rain dropped on him and he used his large ear as an umbrella.

"You better be ready to do some hard work." Atlas told him.

"I usually am..." Atticus agreed.

* * *

The circus workers got straight to work so they could be ready for their new crowd in this town. Atticus and Atlas began to carry out a huge tall pole that would be used to hold up the huge tent. The other animals kept sleeping their cages as Mrs. Jumbo and Dumbo went to help the circus workers set up. And where thanks to the weather, it wasn't easy for any of them.

Dumbo wanted to help, he saw his mother helping, so he copied her moves the best that he could. From time to time Atticus and Atlas would have problems that needed the two of them to work together on.

"Together?" Atticus asked.

Atlast was hesitant at first, but he gave in. "Together."

They seemed have to work really well together and even used their combined strengths to get rid of a huge boulder that was for some reason there. The workers chanted as they did their part. Atticus and Atlas picked up the huge boulder and kicked out of the area and possibly out into deep space. Atticus and Atlas then high-fived each other and moved onto the next space.

The other elephants came and did work as well. Oh, well, at least they weren't insulting Dumbo about his ears. Atticus made sure that the elephants didn't insult Dumbo about his ears while working together with Atlas. Dumbo kept wanting to help, but even though he was an elephant, he was till a baby and he was still too little to do anything. The bigger elephants just went to work as they set up.

Atticus tied a little light around Dumbo's tail so the young one would feel useful and kept doing his part. Dumbo smiled up at him as a sign of thanks. Atticus smiled back, then went straight to work. He saw Atlas with two mallets one was for him and the other was for himself. They both then pounded poles to hold up the tent as the elephants helped them.

Dumbo kept trying to help, being a baby, he just couldn't. With two strongmen or in this case one strongman and one strong boy it seemed to go much faster than anyone thought. Atticus panted at some points, but he did not quit. It felt like it took nearly forever, but the final tent went up as the rain was decreasing. It felt like all they did was grabbing ropes, hitching tents, and pounding hammers, which was what they did, but it was all worth it in the end.

* * *

"We're finally done putting it up." Atticus sighed, stumbling back.

"Whoa! You sure you've done hard work before?" Atlas asked with a chuckle.

"Well, at least not hard work like that." Atticus chuckled.

Cherry poked her head out. "That looked exhausting..."

"It sure was." Atticus and Atlas said in unison.

"Goodbye, old life, hello, Circus Brat..." Cherry sighed.

"Don't worry, Cherry, maybe someday, we'll be back with your family." Atticus said.

"We're under contract..." Cherry reminded him.

"I'm sure it won't be forever..." Atticus soothed.

Cherry yawned. "I suppose so..."

"You should get some sleep, it'll be a while until the parade starts." Atlas informed them.

Cherry nodded, she then stopped and yawned with a small stretch. She saw Atticus fall asleep in Atlas's arms who for some reason didn't mind that and carried him inside for him to get plenty of rest before the parade. Everybody got as much sleep as they could get since there was an early morning start to draw in crowds. Before Atticus woke up, Atlas got the weights they would be using in their performance during the parade.

* * *

The rain was clearing up and the people would be coming in any minute now. The ringmaster was making sure of this and he was thinking of the money he could make with both Atticus and Atlas in his circus. Cherry was sleeping by the animals, being their tamer and all. A few hours later, Atticus woke up to see Atlas outside ready.

"This is it, kid, your big circus debut." Atlas smiled to Atticus.

Atticus yawned and stretched. "Let the games begin."

"They will, but first, we'll need to get plenty of exercise before the parade starts." Atlas told him.

Atticus nodded and warmed up with him. "I'm ready."

Atlas chuckled. "I'm sure you are."

The both of them began to exercise together so then they would be ready.

* * *

Cherry woke up in her boxcar, then looked to the animals. "Hey, gang..." she weakly greeted after a yawn.

"Hello." The animals greeted.

Cherry came over to check on them. "Ready for the big day?"

"We guess so..." the gorilla said softly.

"We sure are." One of the lions replied with a yawn.

"It'll be okay," Cherry said softly. "I know this is a big change, I know it is for me, but let's take it easy now."

"Agreed." A giraffe said.

"Okay, animals who are in the parade line, over here," Cherry organized, pointing in one direction. "Other animals, get to your cages and carts over there that way."

The animals began to go where the girl told them to go.

"That wasn't so hard..." Cherry smiled.

"Indeed." The second lion nodded.

Cherry went to see the elephants.

"Whoa, careful!" a voice squeaked.

Cherry looked around, then looked down to see a mouse on the ground. "Oh, excuse me..." she said apologetically to the mouse.

"It's okay, I get it a lot." The mouse shrugged.

"Haven't seen you before..." Cherry said. "I was just about to check the elephants."

"What are ya, some kind of tamer?" the mouse asked.

"Animal tamer now," Cherry explained. "You might wanna stay back, I hear elephants are scared of mice."

"Eh, I'll stay away from them, I'm just looking for some food." The mouse told her.

"Wish I could help ya... I gotta get going..." Cherry said to the mouse, then went off.

"What a strange child... Aw, well..." the mouse shrugged and continued to explore for food.

Cherry came to the female elephants. "You girls ready for the parade?"

"We sure are.' Mrs. Jumbo smiled.

"Well, I know I am..." the Matriarch sounded boastful.

"I'm so excited." Giddy smiled.

Cherry nodded to them and walked off.

"Provided that little troublemaker with the big ears doesn't get in the way." Catty muttered.

"Oh, you're right, dear, he'd ruin the whole show." Prissy agreed.

"Quit bullying him or else you girls don't get peanuts while Mrs. Jumbo and her son do." Cherry warned them.

"Hmph!" Catty huffed. "How extremely unfair!"

Cherry rolled her eyes at that, then came to see little Dumbo, even though it was a crude nickname, she and Atticus had gone along with calling him it, but they always said it in a nice way so whenever the baby would hear that name, he wouldn't feel bad. "You okay, little guy?" she asked in a quiet and gentle tone of voice.

Dumbo nodded with a smile.

"Hope you're ready, we're gonna have a lot of fun today, just you see." Cherry smiled.

Dumbo smiled, taking her word for it and hoping that he really would have fun. Cherry smiled to Dumbo and went to see the other animals. Dumbo smiled to Cherry and followed her like a lost puppy without her knowing. Cherry began to have the feeling someone was following her and decided to look who was following her and saw who it was. Dumbo waved with his tiny trunk and large ears.

"Silly goose..." Cherry snickered softly. She then brought Dumbo back over to his mother.

* * *

Mrs. Jumbo was looking around as her fellow elephants were getting fitted for their outfits in the parade. She then saw Cherry coming with her baby. "Oh, thank heavens!"

"Sorry..." Cherry said, bringing Dumbo back. "Guess the little guy wanted to explore."

"Sweetheart, please trumpet the next time you want to explore." Mrs. Jumbo told her son.

Dumbo silently nodded to his mother.

Mrs. Jumbo smiled and patted him on the head with her own trunk. "Oh, I love you so much..."

"Mama." Dumbo smiled.

Cherry went to the ringmaster. "The animals are almost ready."

"Excellent, this is going to be a great show, I know it will be!" the ringmaster grinned as he went over to his white horse.

They saw Atticus and Atlas getting their part of the parade ready and were even having a fun time doing it. They learned to get along a lot better the more time they spent together.

"Okay, looks like we're ready on our part." Atticus smiled.

"Yep, just remember what I taught ya." Atlas agreed.

"I sure will." Atticus said before holding his right fist out to the strongman for a fist bump.

Atlas happily fist bumped back.


	6. Chapter 6

It was now time for the parade to start to help promote people into coming to visit to the circus. Cherry and Atticus got into their uniforms and followed to where they were supposed to go and gave waves to the people they passed. Zebras pulled a sleeping lion's cage as the band marched and played to entertain the crowd. A hippo pulled a very small organ and it also played a lively, but not very loud and flashy. It was suddenly loud and crazy as clowns came in and played their own music to win the kids over.

Atticus and Atlas were doing feats of strength during the whole parade to show everyone what would be at the big top. The crowd seemed very drawn to both Atticus and Atlas. As they both began to break out of chains, they tied each other in along with bending the dumbbells into a loop and even around their own necks before straightening them out.

The crowd was at awe and delight at that. The elephants were taking their walk, their trunks linked to their tails. Even Dumbo was along and had his own little float over his back, trying to keep up with his mother and the other elephants. But he had a problem with his ears as he tripped on one of them and fell into a mud puddle.

"Dumbo!" Cherry gasped in worry.

This made the people laugh at Dumbo's misfortune. Atlas was about to laugh as well, but for some reason, it didn't seem to seem funny to him as he began to feel his chest at the part where his heart was. He had developed feelings it had seemed! At least someone else was being supportive of the baby elephant now.

"I think somebody needs a bath..." Cherry said to Dumbo since he was coated in mud now.

"I agree." Atticus and Atlas nodded.

The parade continued on until it would be over so they could have people file into the big top. After the parade, Atticus, Cherry, and even Atlas were now helping Mrs. Jumbo with giving Dumbo a bath.

"Boy, you seem nice all of the sudden." Cherry chuckled to Atlas in a joking way.

"Yeah, I don't know why, but all of a sudden, I started to develop emotions." Atlas told her.

"Well, it's great that to know that you're not such a jerk anymore than from the first time we met." Atticus smiled at the strongman.

"I feel good now." Atlas agreed.

* * *

Mrs. Jumbo sucked up some of the bath water in her trunk and sprayed it all over her baby. Dumbo was washed instantly from the digusting mud and he really loved the bath so far. The baby elephant even started to splash Atticus, Cherry, and Atlas who didn't seem to mind getting splashed by him and wasn't losing his temper at the baby animal.

"Heeeey!" Cherry flinched from the splashes, but had a smile to show she wasn't truly annoyed.

"Heeeey!" Atticus and Atlas flinched from the splashes, but had a smile to show they weren't truly annoyed either.

Dumbo smiled, he really loved his bath. Mrs. Jumbo then took Dumbo out of the tub and put him back on the ground once he was all clean. Dumbo then shook himself dry like a dog to get the water off of himself.

"He sure seems to be having a lot of fun." Atlas smiled.

Mrs. Jumbo and Dumbo then trumpeted to each other before playing a small game of Hide-And-Seek. Atticus smiled, though a little sadly, he never got to have an experience like that.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" Atlas asked the boy out of worry.

"I-I'll be okay..." Atticus said, then walked off. "Excuse me..."

Atlas watched him go, then looked a little concerned. "What's with him?"

Cherry sighed a little softly. "Lost his parents a long time ago... We can't even find out who they are or who they might have been."

"It must be sad for him." Atlas frowned.

"Mm-hmm..." Cherry slowly nodded.

"Well, I'd like to bring him into my family, but I haven't seen them in a while." Atlas said.

"Thanks for helping..." Cherry shrugged.

The ringmaster had let some visitors into the big top tent and a gaggle of kids rushed right over to meet the animals.

* * *

"Isn't that the funniest thing you ever saw?" one boy laughed once he came with his friends to meet the elephants. "Look at his ears!"

"Is he seriously going to start?" Atlas asked Cherry.

"I wish I had powers or something..." Cherry snarled.

The kid was making fun of Dumbo. Dumbo smiled, waving his trunk and his ears to be friendly. The kid laughed at him, then moved the sides of his shirts to tease the poor baby elephant.

"Hey, guys, look!" one of the boy's friends laughed. "Smitty's an elephant!"

Mrs. Jumbo decided that was enough, so she took her son away from these bullying human children, they were nothing like Cherry or Atticus. And where speaking of which, Atticus came back in to see what was going on. He gasped in shock and disgust when he saw the human kids kept teasing and bullying Dumbo. Smitty snuck up behind Mrs. Jumbo though and pulled Dumbo by his ears and started to blow in them. Atticus and now surprisingly Atlas were becoming angry with those kids.

"Stop that!" Cherry scolded the kid who was tormenting Dumbo. "I'm the animal tamer and I say you have to leave now!"

But unfortunately, the kids didn't listen to her. The kids kept bullying and harassing Dumbo. Mrs. Jumbo looked in horror, especially when the kids harmed her baby, she was both horrified and angry. Horrified for poor little Dumbo and angry with the children and wanted to teach them a lesson they would never forget. Atlas was the same and where he wouldn't be afraid of what he would do to the kids.

The kids kept teasing and bullying poor little Dumbo, again for his ears. Mrs. Jumbo had enough, she showed a rare display of violence and even grabbed the one kid who picked on Dumbo the most and grabbed him by her trunk, put him over one of the ropes and gave him a firm spank on the bottom with her trunk. Atlas, Atticus, and Cherry began to play cards, not caring if those terrible kids got hurt.

"Pick a card..." Cherry said like a magician as Mrs. Jumbo was going mama bear all over the horrible and rotten children.

"The middle one." Atticus said while pointing to the middle card.

Cherry took out the middle card to show it was the three of clubs, then shuffled the deck. She then took out the eight of diamonds. "Is that your card?"

"No." Atticus and Atlas said.

Cherry shuffled again and took out the queen of spades. "Is that your card?"

Atticus and Atlas shook their heads.

Cherry sighed, shuffling once more, then took out the two of hearts. "Is that your card?"

Mrs. Jumbo was now scaring a lot of people due to her anger and frustration of how her baby was being treated by these horrible and awful humans.

"Yep, that's it." Atticus and Atlas smiled.

"Really?: Cherry asked, almost unbelievable, then shrugged. "Erm... Ta-Da!"

Mrs. Jumbo screamed as the other animal trainers rushed to Mrs. Jumbo to restrain her. Cherry, Atticus, and Atlas turned to see that.

"Oh, no, stop!" Cherry ran over.

"What are you jerks doing?!" Atticus and Atlas asked as they helped stop the other animal trainers.

"This elephant has gone haywire, you kids stand back!" one trainer glared as he tried to hold down Mrs. Jumbo.

"No, you can't do this!" Cherry glared.

The animal trainers ignored her and held down Mrs. Jumbo. The ringmaster told them to since Mrs. Jumbo's explosion was making customers flee away in terror.

"This is unfair." Atticus said.

Mrs. Jumbo even knocked the ringmaster into the bath tub, which made him even more flustered. Dumbo wanted to go to his mother, but no one would let him. It was just a heartbreaking sight to see parent split up from child.

"She wouldn't have gone on a rampage if those brats hadn't started to torment Dumbo," Atlas told the ringmaster after he dried off. "And by those brats, I'm talking about some of the costumers."

"She's a mad elephant and needs to be locked up!" the ringmaster was too angry for discussion. "She is locked up tonight and won't be let out until she learns her lesson!"

"She was defending her baby!" Atticus glared. "You shouldn't separate a parent for doing their job!"

Cherry was very angry too.

"I'm sorry, but the topic is not open for discussion..." the ringmaster sneered at them and stormed off to his private tent.

"I truly hate that man." Atlas glared.

"I'm sure he'll get his just desserts in the end..." Cherry glared.

* * *

Amber was now crying. Oh, poor Dumbo!" she sniffled. "That must've been so horrible..."

"Trust us, it was..." Cherry said in a soft tone.

Darla took out a hanky, patting her eyes as she even cried and blew her nose noisily. Patch began to nuzzle Darla to comfort her. Darla looked down and smiled halfway, putting her arm around the Dalmatian puppy. Cherry and Atticus decided to give Darla, Amber, and Patch a minute before continuing the story.


	7. Chapter 7

After about a minute or two; Darla, Amber, and Patch were ready for Atticus and Cherry to continue the story.

"Okay..." Darla cleared her throat. "We're better..."

"Still, that must've been so awful..." Amber frowned. "I don't know what I'd do if someone took MY parents away from me."

"Well, it was really hard on Dumbo." Atticus said.

"We can imagine..." Darla said as she hugged her knees. "What did the other elephants do?"

"Gossip..." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"Should have known." Patch groaned.

* * *

Mrs. Jumbo was locked up later that night. She was chained down and all she could do was cry since she was labeled as a mad elephant and she wouldn't be anywhere near her child. All Dumbo could do himself was cry miserably since he was without his mother and the other elephants just gossiped about it and thought Mrs. Jumbo got what she deserved. Atticus, Cherry, and Atlas were now coming over to Dumbo to comfort him. Dumbo sniffled as tears rolled down his baby blue eyes.

"I hope karma gets them..." Cherry glared at the gossipy female elephants, but frowned lightly and patted the baby elephant on the head. "It's okay, son, she won't be locked up forever..."

"That's right, she'll be free soon." Atticus agreed.

Cherry then remembered the mouse she met. She started to look around for him. "Here, mousey, mousey, mousey... Here, mouse!"

"Hey, kid..." the mouse was there, he had found a peanut and was trying to crack it open.

"There you are!" Cherry said to him. "Um... I need a favor..."

"Sure what can I do ya for?" The mouse asked before opening up the peanut.

"See those elephants?" Cherry pointed back at the gossiping elephants who mocked Mrs. Jumbo and poor Dumbo once more.

The mouse looked over and nodded. "I never liked 'em... Gab, gab, gab... Always gossipin'..."

"I know, they need to be taught a lesson..." Cherry knelt in front of the mouse. "I think you can help."

"I think so too." The mouse said.

Cherry saw him struggling with the peanut, so she helped him out and handed it back to the mouse.

"Thanks, kid." the mouse smiled.

"Sure." Cherry smirked back.

"So, is your little friend going to help us?" Atticus and Atlas asked.

"Okay... Your time to shine..." Cherry cupped the mouse in her hands as she snuck by the elephants who were grouped together.

The mouse seemed to give her a thumb's up. "Okay, just get ready to back up so you don't get squashed."

Cherry then put the mouse down in the piles of hay that the elephants were eating and she ran back over to Atticus and Atlas.

* * *

"This should be entertaining." Atlas said.

"Who's the mouse?" Atticus asked.

Cherry was about to say, then looked puzzled. "I dunno... I never asked..."

"Well, I guess we should find out his name afterwards." Atticus said.

The elephants gossiped, then noticed a disturbance. " **MOUSE!** "

The elephants then screamed and ran away like cowards as the mouse decided to torment them for making fun of Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo.

"Oh, yeah, this is very entertaining." Atlas smiled.

The elephants were so scared, then even climbed up a few tent poles and screamed. The mouse then made silly faces which made them even more scared. He then made it look like he was leaving. The elephants saw this and slowly came down back to the ground.

The mouse sensed them coming down, so he turned around again, facing them. "BOO!"

This made them even more scared and decided to stay where they were.

The mouse chuckled and then came back over to Cherry. "Good enough for ya?"

"Totally." Cherry smirked, picking up the mouse in the palm of her left hand.

"Oh, wait 'til I tell the little guy." the mouse chuckled, then looked around for Dumbo.

"Huh, where'd he go?" Atlas asked as he saw that Dumbo wasn't where he was before.

"Dumbo, you can come out now!" Atticus called.

"Oh, maybe I scared him too..." the mouse guessed.

* * *

Cherry looked around, then saw a tiny gray trunk popping out from a pile of hay. "I think I found him."

"Yep, I recognize that trunk anywhere." Atlas smiled.

"Look, Dumbo, I'm your friend," the mouse tried to soothe the baby elephant as he hid away in the hay. "Come on out, will you?"

Dumbo shook in the hay, not coming out.

"You're really not afraid of little old me, are ya?" the mouse asked.

Dumbo shook in the hay up and down to show he was nodding his head in agreement.

"You are?" the mouse sounded hurt. "Must've overdid... Don't know my own strength sometimes."

"Try using a peanut." Atticus whispered to the mouse.

"Hmm... Good idea..." the mouse agreed, he then took off his hat to show another peanut and held it in his gloved paws. "Oh, Dumbo~? Look at what I got for ya..."

Dumbo's trunk came out of the hay, trying to get the peanut.

"Ah-Ah-Ah!" the mouse took it out of his way. "Ya gotta come out first!"

Dumbo inhaled the peanut through the hay and ate it once he got it.

"Well, that just happened." Cherry muttered.

"What else could work?" Atticus asked.

"I think he really misses his mommy..." Cherry suggested.

This gave the mouse an idea. "Too bad you don't trust me, 'cuz I thought that, uh, well, maybe, you and me, we might get your mother out of the clink..."

Dumbo poked his head out of the hay for a brief moment.

"But, I guess you wouldn't be interested... So long, Dumbo..." the mouse then started to walk off while whistling a tune to himself.

Dumbo fully came out of the hay and picked up the mouse by his tail to keep him from leaving.

"Looks like he's interested now." Atticus smirked.

"That's more like it," the mouse smiled. "You know, your ma ain't crazy, she just got broken-hearted... I mean, it's not your fault you got them big ears."

This made Dumbo hide his face with his ears.

"Way to go, little guy." Atticus said sarcastically towards the mouse.

"Oops..." the mouse felt dumb now. "Aw, gee, Dumbo, I think your ears are beautiful!"

Dumbo poked his face out then in curiosity.

"Sure!" the mouse encouraged. "As a matter of fact I think they're very decorative. You know, lots of people with big ears are famous."

"Yeah." Atlas smiled.

"We could make you a star with your wonderful ears!" Cherry encouraged.

"Yeah," Atticus smiled. "Oh, right, what's your name mouse?"

"The name is Timothy Q. Mouse, at your service." the mouse introduced, removing his hat and giving a bow.

"Nice to meet ya." Atticus smiled.

"Nice to meet you all too," Timothy smiled. "You're the most unique and helpful humans I've ever met."

"Well, one of my neighbors has a mouse in her house, but he seems nice..." Cherry smiled. "Maybe you know him, his name is Jerry?"

"Oh, you mean my cousin." Timothy smiled.

"Jerry's your cousin?" Atticus asked.

"Oh, yeah, we go way back," Timothy chuckled. "Haven't seen him in a while... He lives in your neighbor's house?"

"She doesn't seem to mind, though her cat doesn't seem to like him very much." Cherry replied.

"That makes sense." Timothy shrugged.

Dumbo was curious what it would be like to be a star in the circus.

"All we gotta do is build up an act," Timothy said to the baby elephant, standing on the end of his trunk. "Make ya a star! A headliner! Dumbo the GREAT!"

"Um, the great of what?" Atticus asked.

Everybody suddenly got down in despair.

"Hmm..." Cherry scratched her head in thought. "What could work?"

"Hmm, maybe he could be part of our act." Atlas said.

"Something like that..." Atticus agreed. "But what...?"

"Maybe the ringmaster could have a suggestion?" Cherry shrugged.

Timothy scoffed. "He's never had an idea in his life!"

But then they saw a light coming from the Ringmaster's tent and then they saw him talking to someone. Cherry, Atticus, Atlas, Dumbo, and Timothy decided to, even though it was wrong, eavesdrop.

* * *

"Have I got an idea, what an idea..." the ringmaster said as he was talking with someone who was in the tent with him. "Just visualize... One elephant climbs up on top of another elephant, until finally all seven elephants have constructed an enormous pyramid of pachyderms! I step out, I blow the whistle, the trumpets are trumpeting, AND NOW… **COMES THE CLIMAX!** "

"Uh, what is the climax, boss?" The figure asked him, sounding like an idiot.

The ringmaster chuckled, but then sounded doubtful once he spoke again. "I don't know..."

Cherry slid her glasses off and rubbed her eyes wearily.

"I knew he never had nuthin'." Timothy scoffed.

"Oh, well, maybe it'll come to me in a dream." The ringmaster yawned.

The lights were then turned off.

"Good night, Joe." the ringmaster said, going to sleep for the night.

"Good night, Boss." the worker replied.

* * *

"Climax..." Timothy tried to come up with an idea based on what the ringmaster was saying. "CLIMAX! Dumbo, you're a climax!"

"Yep, that means a big finish." Atticus smiled.

"How do we tell the boss though?" Atlas asked.

"Leave that to me." Timothy volunteered.

"You got it, little dude." Atlas said.

Timothy then went off to the ringmaster's tent.

"You think this'll work?" Cherry asked.

"Yes, yes, I do." Atticus nodded.

Dumbo was curious and bewildered.

Cherry gently patted the baby elephant's head to soothe him. "It's okay, buddy, it's okay..."

"Yeah, everything's going to work out just fine." Atlas smiled assuring the baby elephant.

"A-A-Atlas, A-Atticus, C-Cherry," Dumbo smiled. " T-Timothy, friends."

"Did you say something?" Cherry looked back at Dumbo.

"Did he speak?" Atticus asked.

"I-I think he did..." Cherry was unsure.

"Did you just talk, little guy?" Atlas asked the baby elephant.

"Maybe we're hearing things..." Cherry shrugged.

Dumbo smiled as he came to Atlas, Cherry, and Atticus.

"Friends." Dumbo smiled.

"He did talk!" Atticus heard it then.

"Dumbo, you can talk!" Cherry smiled to the baby elephant.

"Uh-huh." Dumbo nodded with a smile.

Cherry hugged the baby elephant with a small smirk. Atticus then shook Dumbo's trunk with his hand in a friendly gesture.


	8. Chapter 8

"I don't get it, if he could talk, how come he didn't before?" Darla asked.

"It's because he was beginning to learn every word that everyone around him said." Atticus told them.

"Remember, Dumbo was a baby." Cherry reminded.

"Oh... I guess that makes sense..." Darla shrugged innocently.

"So what happened next?" Amber asked.

"Well, the ringmaster decided to try out the Pachyderm Pyramid that Tmothy told him about, though with Dumbo as the climax the night before..." Cherry explained. "It didn't go as well as planned... You won't believe how hard it was to train those elephants into doing it."

"What, did they stand on top of at the bottom?" Patch asked.

"Let's just find out, shall we?" Cherry replied.

* * *

The next day at the circus, the ringmaster arranged the plan to win crowds after the 'mad elephant' scare.

"This plan is fool proof." Atticus smiled.

"Sounds kinda strange if you ask me..." Cherry shrugged.

"Let's just hope this doesn't end in disaster." Atlas said.

"You say that and then it does..." Cherry mumbled, she then went to gather the elephants together. "Prissy!"

"Here!" Prissy waved her trunk.

"Catty?" Cherry called.

"Here!" Catty called back.

"Giddy?" Cherry looked around. "Giddy? ...Giddy!" Suddenly she was blown from water and the water pushed her onto the ground.

Giddy giggled at that.

"She's here." Atticus and Atlas said.

Cherry coughed up the water and wrung her hair. "Note to self: Find a way to get away with elephant murder."

"We'll try to remind you." Atticus said.

Cherry then dried herself off and sorted out the elephants for the ringmaster. And where hopefully, this all would all go according to plan. Cherry was just sure this was going to have a major downfall, but she did as she was told. The ringmaster was eager to see how much money he could make off of this. And where he was now making a whole lot of money out of this.

* * *

Once everything was arranged, the ringmaster opened up the circus and the audience came, very anxious and eager to see this 'Pachyderm Pyramid' up close for themselves. And where this act would be a performance none of them would ever forget. The ringmaster introduced the act to the public which annoyed the elephants and they wanted him to get on with it.

"To here him talk, you'd think he was going to do it." Catty scoffed.

"The stuffed shirt." the Matriarch agreed with a snort.

"I give you... The elephants!" the ringmaster finished his introduction and bowed to the crowd. "And to help them perform this act shall be our two strongmen; Atlas and Atticus!" he then added.

"Oh, boy..." Cherry sensed disaster.

The ringmaster blew his whistle and summoned the elephants with his strongmen. Cherry pointed and signaled the elephants to get into their positions. And where the elephants each went to their positions and had a little help with the strongmen.

"Aren't we a bit clumsy?" the Matriarch grumbled to one of her fellow elephants.

Catty was coming next with Atticus and Atlas's help. "Gaining a little weight, aren't you, honey?" she said through straining and struggling.

"You're no cream puff yourself, deary." Giddy retorted.

"Will you girls just shut up and stay focused?" Atticus whispered to the elephants.

"He's right," the Matriach firmly agreed. "Quiet up there, tend to your work, girls."

Catty got on top of the other elephant with Atlas's help and she reached out for Prissy. Prissy struggled as she was on top of the Matriarch who was very angered with her and called her a clumsy ox.

 _'Okay, next elephant.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

Catty and Prissy were having trouble which made the Matriarch rather nervous. Atticus and Atlas were there to make sure none of them fell over. Timothy was hiding and secretly watching, he was relieved that no one was hurt so far.

"Whew, that was close." Atlas sighed quietly.

"I just know I'm going to get hurt during this..." Cherry moaned.

"No, you won't." Atticus whispered to her.

"I can taste the pain already..." Cherry rolled her eyes.

The ringmaster grinned as the audience was in awe and anticipation of the elephant pyramid. Atticus and Atlas helped the best that they could, but the elephants look rather suffering through this painful process that was very painful to them.

"I'd hate to be in their situation." Atticus whispered.

"You and me both, kid." Atlas agreed.

Cherry went to the back of the tent and came to see Timothy and Dumbo who had a tiny flag in his trunk to wave to the crowd.

* * *

"Hey, Timothy, is Dumbo ready yet?" Cherry whispered.

"Just about, got your flag?" Timothy asked the baby elephant.

Dumbo waved his flag in response.

"This is it," Cherry smiled encouragingly to the baby elephant. "I'm so proud of you and don't listen to what anybody says about you or your ears, you are special and independent."

"What's 'independent'?" Dumbo asked.

"You believe in you and only you, no matter what anyone else thinks." Cherry explained.

"Ohh, okay." Dumbo said.

"Let's do a test run before the real thing." Timothy said.

Dumbo nodded to his mouse friend and did a test run while the female adult elephants were joining together to form the pyramid. And where it would have gone great if Dumbo hadn't tripped over his ears.

Cherry smiled encouragingly, then winced at the plummet. "That was... Better...?" she then grinned nervously.

"Almost ready now, Dumbo," Timothy told his friend. "Don't forget to wave the flag."

Dumbo smiled and waved his flag.

"Okay, okay, don't wave no more, I saw ya." Timothy stopped him.

"Hmm..." Cherry lifted one of Dumbo's ears.

"You got an idea?" Timothy asked.

"Maybe we should tie his ears up..." Cherry suggested.

"Yeah, that'll work." Timothy smiled.

"Let's see... How does it go again...?" Cherry tried to think as she held Dumbo's ears in her hands, attempting to tie them like a pair of tennis shoes.

* * *

The ringmaster was making another announcement about the female elephants, about to introduce Dumbo while Cherry and Timothy tied his ears.

"That windbag," the Matriach grunted as the ringmaster went on, and on, and on... "Why doesn't he come to the point!?"

"I agree with you on this one." Atticus and Atlas whispered.

The Matriarch still struggled, but she had a small smug smirk before it disappeared that the strongmen agreed with her.

 _'Hurry up already, bag of winds.'_ Atticus thought to himself, referring to the ringmaster.

The audience wasn't annoyed like they were, but anxious to hear what the ringmaster had to say about the climax for the Pachyderm Pyramid.

"And now, I present the world's smallest elephant!" the ringmaster eventually reached the point. "Who will spring from this springboard in one spring, on top of the pyramid, waving his little flag for the climax, ladies and gentlemen... I give you... Dumbo!"

* * *

The curtains opened up to show the baby elephant with his ears tied over his head so he wouldn't trip anymore. But there was one thing Atticus, Atlas, Cherry, and Timothy didn't count on, Dumbo was scared and nervous.

"Dumbo, that's your cue!" Cherry whispered loudly. "Come on, Dumbo!"

"Get going, what's wrong with you!?" Timothy added.

"What's that elephant doin'?" Atlas demanded.

"I hate to do this..." Timothy whispered as he took out a sharp nail and let it poke Dumbo on his behind to make him move.

Dumbo ran instantly from the impact as a drum rolled for him.

"Are his ears tied together?" Atticus asked, noticing it.

Cherry and Timothy watched as Dumbo ran with all his might. Unfortunately, Dumbo's ears were coming loose and he tripped over them again and he started to fly in the air towards the adult female elephants. Dumbo had crashed into the ball that the Matriarch was balancing herself with and the pyramid was starting to tumble down and fall flat on the ground.

 _'Oh, no, this doesn't look good.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

The elephants were out of control and they were all about to fall on top of each other. The audience grew horrified, even more than when they thought Mrs. Jumbo was a mad elephant.

" **OUT OF MY WAY, ASSASSIN!** " the Matriarch glared to Dumbo, blaming him for this accident.

Atlas began to get Atticus out of the tent with Cherry and Timothy following. The elephants were now all tumbling down, this had to be the worst day of the circus coming to town. The elephants were badly injured from the collision.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Atticus winced while running.

* * *

The tent was collapsing and the audience had fled away in sheer terror. Dumbo poked his trunk out, waving his now broken flag, he was not hurt, thankfully enough.

"Whew, at least Dumbo didn't get hurt." Atticus sighed out of relief.

"We can never show our faces in this town again..." the ringmaster said. "We should change Dumbo's act."

"What do you have in mind, sir?" Cherry asked.

"The only one who can make a career out of making huge mistakes and teach him a lesson through humility," the ringmaster said. "A clown."

"What?!" Atlas, Atticus, and Cherry asked out of shock.

"That'll teach him for wrecking the show." the ringmaster said.

"It's not his fault!" Cherry said.

"Go take care of the animals," the ringmaster handed her a first aid kit. "The elephant will be clown and that is final!"

Cherry and Atticus then looked to each other glumly.


	9. Chapter 9

"A **CLOWN**!?" Darla, Amber, and Patch asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Atticus said.

Cherry put her hands to her eyes and shook her head.

"That man sounded like he was heartless." Amber said.

"Please tell me he gets what he deserves in the end." Darla added.

"Oh, he does..." Cherry said before feeling herself smile as she covered her mouth and felt a laugh coming on as she remembered what happened at the end of her and Atticus's circus adventure.

"So, what happened next?" Patch asked.

"Public humiliation..." Cherry face-palmed.

* * *

Cherry had tended to to the elephants' wounds and gave them bandages and ice from the injuries they received from Dumbo's little mistake. "Look you guys, it was an accident, so stop blaming Dumbo, he's only a baby!"

"It's still all his fault, he should have watched where he was going." The Matriarch told her.

"He didn't mean it!" Cherry glared.

" **I'D JUST LIKE TO SPANK THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF HIM!** " the Matriach threatened before wincing in sudden pain.

"Oh, that won't be necessary, deary," Catty commented. "They fixed him good."

"What do you mean?" Giddy asked.

"What did they do?" Prissy asked. "Did they beat him?"

"What is it, darling?" Catty asked. "Tell us!"

"Come on, come on, I demand to know!" the Matriarch demanded.

"Well, they've gone and made him..." Catty sounded horrified. "Dear, I can't say it."

"What?" Cherry asked. "What's wrong?"

Catty looked to her, then her fellow elephants. "A clown." she finally told them.

This shocked the elephants very dearly.

"A clown?" Giddy asked.

"No." Prissy didn't believe it.

"Yes." Catty reassured.

"Oh, the shame of it all," the Matriarch said before raising her trunk with her fellow elephants. "Let us take a solemn vow. From now on: He is no longer an elephant..."

All of her fellow elephants agreed to this, finding Dumbo's reputation he had for now, disgraceful. Cherry fluttered her lips, unsure of what to do or say to that.

"Why don't you go and join your friends?" Catty said to Cherry.

"Get out of here." the Matriarch rudely added.

"Gladly..." Cherry left the elephants, taking the first aid kit with her.

"What is with that girl?" Giddy asked.

The Matriarch snorted in disgust. "Humans... They're so unpredictable and such drama queens."

"Agreed." Prissy said.

Cherry put the first aid kit away.

* * *

"How are the elephants?" Atticus asked.

"Despite being royal pains in the behind, they're doing fine right now." Cherry grumbled.

"Great." Atticus groaned.

"Yeah, my heart goes out to them..." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"That's good to know." Atticus said.

"Yeah, yeah..." Cherry muttered.

"Anyways, I better get back to Atlas." Atticus said.

"Poor Dumbo..." Cherry cooed once she saw the baby elephant. "This is going to be so humiliating."

"Sure is." Atticus frowned before leaving to get back to Atlas.

Cherry sighed.

"You all right, kiddo?" Atlas asked Atticus once he was getting himself set for bed.

"I'm just sad that Dumbo will be performing with clowns now." Atticus frowned.

"Could be worse, I guess..." Atlas shrugged.

"How could it be worse?" Atticus asked.

"I dunno... I'm trying..." Atlas frowned himself.

"Well, let's just hope that nothing worse happens." Atticus said.

"Amen to that." Atlas agreed.

Everybody went to bed for the night.

* * *

The next day, Cherry was checking on the elephants and after she gave them their medicine for the day, she came to Dumbo and put clown make-up on him and tried to be quick.

"Oh, I hope those clowns don't come over here..." Cherry whispered, feeling uncomfortable about doing this.

"I hope so too." Dumbo frowned.

Cherry cooed to him as she applied the make-up.

"What exactly is going to happen?" Dumbo asked.

"You're going to be a baby stuck in a burning building and the clowns are going to put the fire out and save you in the most hilarious way possible," Cherry explained. "I don't think it's funny though, I never found clowns funny..."

"It can't be that bad." Dumbo said.

"If you feel bad today, I am so sorry, but it's the ringmaster's orders..." Cherry soothed.

"I don't like him." Dumbo said.

"Nobody does..." Cherry said, taking off her glasses and made her eyes cross.

Dumbo looked to that, he then lightly giggled and laughed, he thought Cherry looked funny that way.

"There's a smile." Cherry smirked, putting her glasses back on and blinked to put her eyes back in palce.

"How did you do that?" Dumbo asked.

"I have a lazy eye," Cherry took off her glasses and pointed to her left eye. "Watch closely..."

Dumbo squinted his eyes to take a closer look. Cherry's left eye then started to look around other ways while her right eye was focusing in one position.

"Cool." Dumbo smiled.

"Yeah..." Cherry put her glasses back on and blinked a few times. "Phew!"

"Is that hard?" Dumbo asked.

"It's just a deformity I have," Cherry explained. "My eye can't help it, but my glasses help keep my eyes straightened out."

"Cool." Dumbo smiled.

"Yeah, I guess..." Cherry said, then gently blew against his face so the make-up and paint could dry quicker.

Dumbo flinched a little, but allowed Cherry to do her work.

"Are you finished yet?" Dumbo asked.

"Almost, we just have to let you dry first." Cherry promised, then kept blowing.

Soon, the make-up was dry and Cherry tested it.

"Okay, you're ready." Cherry then told the baby elephant.

"Thank you." Dumbo smiled.

Cherry sighed sharply. "Good luck out there..." she then patted Dumbo on the head and took her leave.

Dumbo had a bad feeling about this, he did not fully understand what was going to happen to him, but based on Cherry's reaction, it could not have been a good thing. There was time for a new show and a new spot and this time it was Dumbo's debut as a clown.

* * *

"Please, Mr. Fireman, save my poor baby!" a clown who wore a mother elephant mask was running around like a wuss as Dumbo was in a fake burning building and at the top floor.

"This is embarrassing." Dumbo whispered.

A firetruck drove on stage and a bunch of clowns ran out and making the scenario funny and goofy for the crowd.

"Ugh..." Cherry was disgusted by the clowns. "I... Hate... CLOWNS..."

"I'm hating these clowns." Atticus growled.

"Same here." Atlas added in.

Dumbo watched as the clowns used the buckets of water to splash each other while he was sweating from the heat and flames. "I'm not sure how this works, but I know they're doing it wrong!" he groaned.

And where he was right. The clowns then splashed the water in Dumbo's face and one clown used the water to grow a plant. The audience laughed, but Cherry, Atticus, and Atlas refused to see the humor.

"These guys are annoying." Atticus said.

One clown then poured water into the elephant mask which made the other clown struggle.

"Okay, that was funny." Atlas chuckled to that.

One clown roasted sausage over the fire, another clown put out the fire, only to make it bigger, then realized that he used gas and not water, and more clowns with a trampoline and encouraged Dumbo to jump down.

"Oh, no, I think I know what their finale is." Atticus said with widened eyes.

"Same here, little brother." Atlas agreed nervously.

Dumbo was very nervous about jumping down, but he had no choice, a clown hit him with a bat and made him fly down to the trampoline and when he landed, he landed through the trampoline and ended up covered in cream pie which made the audiecne roar with laughter.

"I was afraid of that." Atticus and Atlas winced.

The ringmaster called for an intermission.

"Oh, poor Dumbo..." Cherry sighed.

"Yeah." Atticus and Atlas added.

The ringmaster laughed as he was given a lot of money from the crowd.

"I swear, all he cares about is money!" Atlas sneered. "I never noticed this before."

"Maybe he'll allow us to let Dumbo visit his mother." Atticus said.

"That feels unlikely..." Atlas said, though he agreed, Dumbo must be missing his mother like crazy now.


	10. Chapter 10

After the show, the clowns were going in the back to wash off their make-up and have an evening drink together. Atticus, Cherry, and Atlas then went into the ringmaster's tent to talk to him about Dumbo visiting his mother. The ringmaster grinned as he counted his money. Dumbo was too humiliated and upset to go with them, besides, if they could, it would be a nice surprise.

"Excuse us, sir?" Cherry spoke up.

"What is it?" the ringmaster nearly growled as he was interrupted during his favorite pastime.

"Since Dumbo has made you so much money, could you maybe allow him to go and visit his mother?" Atticus asked.

"Hmm..." the ringmaster thought about it. "Which one's his mother?"

"Mrs. Jumbo." Cherry said.

"Sorry, I've never been good with names..." the ringmaster said then.

Atlas rolled his eyes, he hoped Cherry and Atticus would forgive him for referring to the mother elephant as this, but it was the only way for their boss to understand. "The 'Mad Elephant'."

"Ohh, well, if she can control herself during the visit, he can see her." The ringmaster said.

"I'm almost certain she will, sir..." Atlas said with a cocky smile and rolling his eyes when his boss wasn't looking.

* * *

They then left the tent to go tell Dumbo the good news. Timothy was washing off the make-up from Dumbo's face as the clowns were laughing and getting drunk. The mouse tried to convince the baby elephant that this was a good thing, even if it sounded like crude bullying to poor Dumbo who was so far spending his whole life being made fun of and his mother wasn't even there to comfort or support him. Atticus, Cherry, and Atlas then appeared just as Dumbo was being cleaned.

"See? They're drinkin' a toast to ya!" Timothy encouraged the baby elephant. "Yeah, you're a big hit! You're terrific!"

Dumbo sniffled and started to cry. "Then why don't I feel so great?" he then sobbed.

"Alley-oop," Timothy signaled. "I gotta wash behind your ears."

Dumbo sighed and lifted the mouse to so he could wash behind his large ears.

"You're a success." Timothy encouraged.

"We should tell him now." Atlas whispered.

Atticus and Cherry nodded, going for the baby elephant. Timothy kept trying to cheer up Dumbo, but nothing would work.

"Hey, Dumbo, we have good news." Atticus smiled.

"Hmm...?" Dumbo asked as he felt extremely upset, not even his best friends could cheer him up.

"Ya guys doin' what I think you're doin'?" Timothy asked eagerly, feeling like he knew where this was going.

"Yep, we got permission from the ringmaster and he's allowed Dumbo to see his mother." Atticus smiled.

"Oh, that's great!" Timothy cheered himself.

With that, they went to the wrongful placement of Mrs. Jumbo as she was chained down and looked more miserable than Dumbo did without him than he did without her. No parent should ever be separated from their child. Especially a mother and a baby.

"I promise you Dumbo, she won't be in that cage for long." Atlas assured the baby elephant.

Dumbo sighed sadly, but he had a small smile in hopes of seeing his mother again.

"Mrs. Jumbo...?" Timothy called. "I hope she's in..."

"It's us, Mrs. Jumbo." Cherry added.

"Hey, Mrs. Jumbo, you awake?" Atticus asked.

"We have someone here to see you." Atlas helped.

Mrs. Jumbo was in fact inside, but she was having trouble coming out. She saw her baby's trunk and she waned to embrace him right there and right now, but couldn't. "I'm sorry, dears... I-I'm afraid I'm stuck..." she said, miserably and unfortunately.

"Can you stretch your trunk out to feel him?" Atticus asked.

"I'm sorry, but that's all I can do..." Mrs. Jumbo expanded her trunk and waved to them.

"It's better than nothing." Cherry agreed.

Dumbo touched his mother's trunk, feeling very glad to have his mother's warmth again. Atticus helped the baby elephant up to the window of the cage. Mrs. Jumbo touched Dumbo with her trunk, filling the empty void they both have had for a long time now. Blast that ringmaster... Dumbo sniffled and started to cry, having missed his mother for oh-so long.

Mrs. Jumbo, being a mother, could sense this, she then started to sing a lullaby to soothe his tears from separation anxiety. Atticus let go of the baby elephant as soon as Mrs. Jumbo got a hold on her baby and started to cradle him. Mrs. Jumbo sang 'Baby Mine' as she gently rocked Dumbo in her trunk.

* * *

"Th-That song..." Atticus whispered. "I... I feel like I know it from somewhere..." He began to have a flashback, seeing his own mother having to sing that very same song. He could not make out the face, but he could see what appeared to be golden blonde hair. And where her voice seemed so familiar to him that tears started to form in his eyes.

He shook his head and put his hands to his eyes as tears leaked out, missing his mother very much right now. Timothy softly sighed and some tears escaped his eyes as well. Atlas began to comfort Atticus as he saw the boy start to tear up. Atticus hugged Atlas as he sniffled as he thought about his mother.

"What happened to her?" Atlas asked, assuming Atticus was crying because he thought of his mother from Mrs. Jumbo's lullaby.

"I-I don't know, I never even got to meet her or my father or sister/brother." Atticus sniffled.

"Sister/Brother?" Atlas asked, confused.

"I'm sure I had an older sibling, I can't remember for sure though, but I'm positive..." Atticus explained. "I just remember someone older than me, though around the age of a kid who usually told me stories..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, buddy..." Atlas gave Atticus a hug.

"I'm sure I'll be reunited with them someday." Atticus hugged him back.

"I hope you do, buddy." Atlas comforted.

Cherry had a smile on her face, but she was not happy or laughing, she was covering her eyes.

"Uh, is she okay?" Atlas asked, confused of the sad moment and Cherry was smiling about it.

"I think so." Atticus said.

"What's so funny?" Atlas said.

Cherry shook her head.

"Uhh...?" Atlas asked.

"Cherry, are you crying...?" Atticus asked.

"Don't look at me!" Cherry whined as her voice sounded cracked, that was a clear sign of sadness.

"She must miss her mother." Atlas said.

"Probably both her parents," Atticus guessed. "They're pretty good parents."

"So, you live with them?" Atlas asked.

"Cherry suggested it," Atticus explained. "After we found Cherry's parents, she asked them if I could stay with them since I'd have nowhere else to go."

"That was nice of them." Atlas smiled.

"Yeah..." Atticus said softly.

Timothy looked around the area, he could see other mother animals with their babies. A zebra and her foal were nuzzled together in warmth and comfort, a giraffe mother lay her head against the hay as her calf lay against her, tiger cubs huddled to their mother, a monkey swung with her babies in hold, a hippo and her baby were under the water together, three ostriches slept with their heads in the ground, a kangaroo rocked back and forth with her joey comfortably in her pouch.

* * *

"Well, it's getting late, we should all get back." Atlas whispered.

"Yeah, it is quite late." Timothy agreed.

Dumbo smiled as he rocked in his mother's trunk, too engrossed by her to notice anything else around him.

"Excuse me, I know you're enjoying this moment together, but it's getting rather late." Cherry said.

"O-Oh.." Dumbo felt hurt that this moment had to end so soon.

Cherry gently picked up Dumbo and set him on the ground so they could go. Timothy took Dumbo by his tail so they could go on which had Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo's trunks unlink from each other.

"You'll be out of there soon." Atlas assured the mother elephant.

"I certainly hope so..." Mrs. Jumbo sounded suffering, but she waved her trunk as her son was going away.

Dumbo began to do the same thing.


	11. Chapter 11

During the walk back to the other side of the circus, Atticus fell asleep in Atlas's arms.

Atlas smiled to Atticus. "He's a little cute when he's asleep..."

"I'll take care of Dumbo and Timothy, you put Atticus to bed." Cherry suggested.

"Deal." Atlas nodded and went to put Atticus to sleep.

"Maybe a little drink will help cheer Dumbo up." Timothy smiled.

"Yeah, I always take a drink when I feel upset about something." Cherry agreed.

Dumbo was starting to cry again, but not as much as before.

"Let's see if some water will help." Timothy said.

"It should..." Cherry looked to the water. "Ah, good, I think I'll have some too... I feel thirsty now that I think about it."

"I know how ya feel Dumbo, but you gotta pull yourself together," Timothy said to the sobbing baby elephant. "What would your mother think of you if she saw ya crying like this. Remember, you come of a proud race. Why you're uh…a pachyderm, and pachyderms don't cry. What's cryin' get ya anyhow?"

Cherry rolled her eyes.

"I wanna be with my mama!" Dumbo cried out.

"I know, little guy, I know and you will soon enough, I promise." Timothy assured him.

Dumbo sniffled and then started to hiccup.

"Oh, no, he's cried too much..." Cherry noticed.

"I know, now he's got the hiccups." Timothy said.

"All right, Dumbo, come here, let's get some water." Cherry said, lifted Dumbo's trunk up gently and put it in the water, she then took a clean plastic cup and scooped herself up some water.

"Thanks." Dumbo said.

"Here, take a trunk full." Timothy suggested.

Dumbo started to suck up the water just as Cherry drank down her glass.

"Hold your breath." Timothy said.

Dumbo held his breath and his face turned bright red.

Cherry took another cup full of water and sipped it down before it would be sucked away from the baby elephant.

"Why, you're mother's gonna be so proud of ya," Timothy encouraged Dumbo to boost his self-esteem. "I'm gonna be proud of ya too. Cherry and Atticus are gonna be proud of ya. The whole circus is gonna be proud of ya. Now, whatdaya think of that? Swallow it."

Dumbo gulped down the water before he instantly hiccuped again.

"You okay?" Timothy asked.

Cherry smiled out of the blue and lightly laughed.

"What's so funny?" Timothy asked.

"Talking animals..." Cherry said in a slurred voice, then laughed louder before cracking up and falling on the ground and pounding it with her fist.

"Huh? What's in this water?" Timothy asked before taking a look.

"Have a drink, old chum!" Cherry laughed and accidentally slapped Timothy into the tub as she kept having her hysterical moment.

"Whoa!" Timothy yelped.

Cherry kept laughing hysterically for no reason. Timothy eventually emerged from the water and was going under the same spell as Cherry. What neither of them knew was that the water had been spiked while they were away. Dumbo was then overly smiling from the water he had ingested.

"Oh, my gosh..." Cherry kept laughing and laughed so hard that tears came to her eyes.

* * *

"Uh... What was so funny, Cherry?" Darla asked, interrupting the story.

"Yeah, what was in that water?" Amber added.

"Uhh... Soda pop?" Cherry seemed to lie.

"The truth, Cherry, what was really in the water?" Patch asked.

"Well... You're getting older... But it was..." Cherry gulped in mid-sentence. "Alcohol."

"Alcohol!?" Amber, Darla, and Patch panicked.

"We didn't know though," Cherry defended. "We just thought it was plain old water, so we drank it!"

"Yikes and that happened while Atticus was asleep?" Darla asked.

"Pretty much," Cherry said.

"You guys didn't see anything 'strange', did you?" Atticus asked since he was asleep during this part.

"We thought we saw pink elephants," Cherry explained. "It was _really_ screwed up."

"Pink elephants?" Patch said confused.

"Just a disclaimer," Cherry put her hands together. "When you go under the influence from drinking, you can tend to see things that aren't really there..."

"So what happened?" Darla asked.

"I don't remember much after the pink elephant thing." Cherry said.

"We found her with Timothy and Dumbo in a tree." Atticus added.

"But Cherry, you always told us you can't and won't climb trees." Patch pointed out.

"I should also mention when you get drunk, you do things you wouldn't normally do." Cherry quickly said.

"Ohh, please continue." Amber said.

"Um, Atticus, why don't you start this one off?" Cherry suggested. "I just remember pink elephants and the world's worst headache."

"Okay, so it got to happen like this..." Atticus said.

* * *

Flashbacks to Atticus and Atlas finding Cherry Timothy and Dumbo on their way up a tree. Atticus and Atlas had been looking around all morning for Cherry, Dumbo, and Timothy since they weren't back at the circus ground or anything.

"So, did you sleep okay last night, little buddy?" Atlas asked.

"Yeah and I think I saw my family in my dream last night." Atticus smiled.

"What were they like?" Atlas asked, smiling at his smile, that was a good sign.

"They were caring and kind, my father, he was brave kind and strong, well, not like god strong, but just strong fatherly strong and my mother, she was kind caring and beautiful and so was my older sister." Atticus smiled as a small tear slipped out.

"So you had a sister." Atlas said from that.

"Yeah, she seemed so cool..." Atticus said softly with a sad smile. "I... I wonder if they're even still alive... And... Why they gave me up."

"I'm sure they had a reason." Atlas assured him.

"I wish I could know..." Atticus said.

"Don't worry..." Atlas hugged him gently. "I know how you feel a little..."

"How so?" Atticus asked.

Atlas let go and sighed. "I... I haven't seen MY family in years... Sure, you can think of the circus as a new family since you all got a lot in common, but it's not the same."

"Well, maybe when that jerk is humiliated, we could get the contracts and rip them up so you can see your family and so then me and Cherry can get back to her family." Atticus said.

"Oh, I don't know..." Atlas frowned. "Ringmasters are strict when it comes to contracts."

"Not that I've seen, but I'd love to see ours go through that." Atlas laughed rather wickedly, then looked up and his eyes widened. "What the..?"

"What?" Atticus asked.

Atlas pointed up. Atticus looked up and saw Cherry, Dumbo, and Timothy on high tree branches.

"How in the world did they get up there?!" Atticus asked.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey, boys!" a crow called out to Atticus and Atlas, then pointed to the human girl, mouse, and baby elephant. "Y'all know these visitors?"

"Yes, we do." Atticus and Atlas nodded.

"We was just about to find out what they were doin' up here." another crow said.

"Leave it to me, boys." another crow, who seemed to call all the shots, volunteered himself.

"How did they get up there in the first place?" Atlas asked.

"That's what we're tryin' to find out!" the head crow said, then flew down to the three non-bird visitors.

Timothy was curled up in Dumbo's trunk, fast asleep, until cigar smoke blew in his face which made him cough and instantly wake up.

"Ugh..." Cherry rubbed her head. "My head... Dumb pink elephants..."

"Pink elephants!" the head crow repeated to his fellow crows with a laugh.

"Pink elephants?" Atticus said, confused.

"That's what she said!" the head crow said.

"What's so funny?" Cherry glared at the crows once she could see again. "And what're you rats with wings doing all the way down here?"

"What're we doing DOWN here!?" the head crow laughed. "Well, hear her talk!"

"Ah, fly up a tree where ya belong." Timothy grumbled.

"Yeah." Cherry also grumbled, feeling more sour than usual.

"Say, look here, Brother Rat and Sister Monkey." the head crow said.

" **BROTHER RAT/SISTER MONKEY!?** " Timothy and Cherry sneered.

"Now, listen," Timothy glared. "I ain't your brother, she ain't your sister, and we ain't no rat or monkey, see!?"

"That was a bit harsh, Crow!" Atticus called out.

"Uh-huh," the crow ignored Atticus an looked to Timothy and Cherry. "And I suppose, you two and no elephant ain't up no tree either?"

The other crows laughed.

"Listen here, we-" Cherry was about to argue, then her face paled and she started to sweat and she slowly looked down. She then yelled out and lost her balance, but she grabbed onto another branch and hyperventilated. " **GET ME OUTTA HERE!** "

"Uh-oh, I forgot to mention this Atlas, but Cherry has a serious fear of heights." Atticus said.

"I can see that." Atlas commented.

"Let's just hope the branch doesn't break." Atticus said.

Dumbo slowly opened his eyes.

"Don't look now, but I think we're up a tree." Timothy whispered to the baby elephant.

Dumbo couldn't help but look down and instantly became frightened.

"Oh, this could end badly." Atticus said.

Cherry was about to get up from the branch, but Dumbo and Timothy crashed down with her and the three of them ended up in the water together. The crows laughed at their misfortune.

* * *

"You three okay?" Atlas asked.

Cherry spit out some water, including a fish. "Ugh... Sure... Never better..." she replied in bitter sarcasm.

Dumbo looked up to the crows and pouted. "They're laughing at us..."

"Ah, don't pay no attention to those scarecrows," Timothy coaxed. "Come on, let's get back to the circus."

"Yeah, those crows are just jerks." Atlas glared at the black birds.

"So long, boys!" the head crow laughed. "Oh, and girly too, sorry Monkey!"

Cherry shook her fists, growling at the crows, then looked curious. "Does anyone even know how we got up there?"

"Nope." Timothy said.

"Hey, there, fellas, maybe you flew up!" one crow suggested with a laugh.

Cherry scoffed. "Yeah, sure, we flew up, and then when I go home, I'll just wave my magic wand and all my homework will be done!"

That gave Timothy an idea however. "That's it! Dumbo, you flew!"

"You're actually thinking that Dumbo flew up into that tree?" Cherry asked.

"Oh, boy, am I stupid!" Timothy got hysterical. "Why didn't I think of this before!? Your ears, just look at 'em, Dumbo! Why, theyr'e the perfect wings! The very things that held ya down are gonna carry ya up and up and up!"

"I think he swallowed too much seawater." Atlas commented.

Atticus nodded in agreement.

"Dumbo: The Ninth Wonder of the Universe!" Timothy continued. "The World's Only Flying Elephant!"

"Well, his ears do seem big enough for Dumbo to fly." Atticus said.

"Don't tell me you're encouraging this!" Cherry gawked at her best friend.

"Did you ever see an elephant fly?" one crow with glasses asked.

"Well, I've seen a horse fly." one crow said.

"I've seen a dragon fly." the fat crow added.

"I've seen a house fly!" the crow with a straw hat even added in.

"If you birds start laughing, I swear I will tear off your feathers!" Atlas threatened.

"Okay, we won't laugh." the head crow said.

"Good." Atticus sounded relieved.

"We'll sing!" the head crow said then.

"I suggest we shut their beaks," Atlas said. "Because this song is not going to be enjoyable from these birds."

"You guys go up, I still need to recover from vertigo..." Cherry took a breath. "Phew..."

"We'll wait." Atticus said.

Cherry then sniffled and bent her nose back and scratched her nose. "Okay, I'm good."

"Nosebleed?" Atlas asked.

"Thankfully no." Cherry was relieved.

"Then what could it be?" Atticus asked.

"Don't worry about it." Cherry said once she put her head back to normal since she wasn't going to have a nosebleed.

"That's good." Atticus sighed out of relief.

The crows laughed about Dumbo being a flying elephant.

Cherry growled, she squeezed her eyes shut and her hands shook into fists. "I'M GONNA KILL THEM!"

"I won't hold you back." Atticus said.

"You dirty birds are just like the rest of 'em!" Cherry glared at the crows. "What is WRONG with you!?"

"Hey, monkey girl, lighten up!" the head crow said.

"No, _you_ lighten up!" Cherry glared back, her eyes seemed to glow red from rage. "Dumbo is only a baby! He's been bullied for every day of his life already just because he's a little different and he's been taken away from the only one who can make him feel better: His mother! Everybody just laughs at him like he's a big fat joke! How would _you_ like it if you were taken away from the only person who understood you and you were made fun of for being different?!"

"Yeah!" Atticus added.

Cherry came up to her best friend's side, still glaring at the bullying birds. "Look at Atticus, when we were little kids, he was bullied for being a weak little bookworm, he had nobody else! I could've just ignored him like everybody else, but I didn't! And why? Because that's wat friends do, they help each other and you're not making Dumbo's problem any better! You crows should be ashamed of yourselves! Dumbo's mother was taken away from him just because she wanted to protect her only baby and what do they do? They locked her up and never let her come anywhere near her child and they forced him to become a clown! Oh, what's that? You're not laughing? Neither am I! Go ahead and laugh, see if I care, we are **OUT OF HERE!** "

* * *

This was a side no one had ever seen before; Amber, Darla, and Patch were even surprised when they heard this.

"You said all that!?" Amber, Darla, and Patch asked in surprise.

"I don't like it when my friends get hurt." Cherry said with her eyes shut.

"Good to know." Patch said.

"Cherry, I've never known you could be aggressive when your friends are threatened." Darla said.

"It's okay, Dimples, you're safe." Cherry promised.

"That's good, anyway, please continue." Darla said.

"Tell us this though, did those crows learn their lesson?" Amber asked.

"Yeah, I think I guilt tripped them." Cherry replied with a shrug.

"Yep because they then tried to help us out." Atticus said.

"The crows decided we were okay," Cherry narrated. "So they gave us a plan to help us out back to the circus and how to make Dumbo an icon instead of a practical joke."

"What did they do?" Patch asked.

"Well..." Cherry and Atticus said.

* * *

Flashbacks to the crows telling Cherry, Atticus, Atlas, and Timothy something about a 'magic feather' to help make Dumbo fly.

"A magic feather? Oh, please, there is no such thing." Atlas scoffed.

"Trust me..." the lead crow said, taking out a black feather. "We know what we're doin'..."

"There's no such thing as magic." Cherry added.

"But it might help Dumbo believe that he can fly." Atticus smiled.

"Come on, guys!" Timothy took the feather and ran with it.

Cherry sighed and rolled her eyes, following after anyway.

"Dumbo, look, I have got it!" Timothy showed the feather. "The magic feather! Now you can fly!"

"Yeah! Now we just gotta find a perfect spot for lift-off." Atticus said.

* * *

Later in the day, they tried at the end of a cliff. Cherry, Atticus, and Atlas were coming by as the crows were getting to push the baby elephant off the cliff with the mouse.

"Let's hope this works." Atticus said, crossing his fingers.

"We have to try." Atlas said.

"Let's go, Dumbo." Timothy coached the baby elephant.

"Just start flapping your ears." Atticus said.

"Oh, I hope I don't mess this up too..." Dumbo said to himself before squeezing his eyes shut and started to get ready to fly.

Cherry, Atticus, and Atlas watched, concerned, hopeful, and worried for Dumbo. They got even more worried when dust clouds started to form while the baby elephant flapped his ears. There was coughing from the dust clouds as Dumbo flapped his ears like they were bird wings. Timothy set himself inside of Dumbo's hat.

Cherry, Atticus, and Atlas coughed and were briefly blinded from the dust clouds as they stood with the crows on the edge of the cliff. After a while, they thought nothing had happened, but they were surprised when they saw what happened.

"Why, he flies like an eagle!" the crow with glasses said.

"That's better than an airplane." the fat crow added.

"Brother, now I've seen everything." the lead crow was amazed.

Cherry, Atticus, and Atlas looked with the crows and Dumbo was literally flying in the air with his ears keeping him and Timothy up in the sky.

"I don't believe it." Cherry said with widened eyes.

"Believe it." Atticus and Atlas said.

The crows, instead of laughing obnoxiously, now praised Dumbo for his amazing and disgusting talent.

"Dumbo, I know you could do it!" Timothy cheered. "Wait 'til we get to the Big Town!"

* * *

"Dumbo flew?" Darla asked in disbelief. "Come on, I know we're kids, but you don't think we're that gullible, do you? That's impossible!"

"Yeah, flying elephants are just as possible as mermaid cities, talking animals, an alternate dimension of talking and singing ponies, and witches..." Cherry agreed, though was obviously being sarcastic to prove that that had really happened.

"Touche." Darla groaned.

Cherry patted her on the head. "Just wait until you have your own adventures someday."

"I hope I have one someday." Darla frowned.

"That'll be fun." Amber smiled encouragingly.

"So, I take it that was when you guys got back to the circus?" Patch asked the two story-tellers.

"Yes, and this is where it gets good." Cherry said to the puppy and two little girls.

"The humiliation of the ringmaster!" Amber, Darla, and Patch cheered.

"Yes, the humiliation of the ringmaster," Cherry said. "But first..."


	13. Chapter 13

Cherry, Atticus, Atlas, Dumbo, and Timothy then found a way back to the circus.

"Where have you all been!?" the ringmaster glared to them. "I've been worried sick over you!"

"Trust us, you wouldn't believe us if we told you, but we can promise you is that tonight's performance is one no one will ever forget." Atticus smiled.

"Oh, that sounds very promising." the ringmaster smiled eagerly and selfishly again, his greed taking over him.

"You'll have to wait and see what is it." Cherry added.

"Oh, hurry up in there then!" the ringmaster pointed inside the tent. "Those folks will be here any minute and I want that elephant to be turned back into a clown pronto!"

"Oh, he will, sir." Atlas smirked.

Cherry went to take care of Dumbo. The female elephants were nearly healed and not as hurt as they were from the Pyramid of Pachyderms mess.

"I promise, Dumbo, after today, you never have to wear this crap on your face again." Cherry told the baby elephant as she applied the clown make-up on his face.

"Thank goodness." Dumbo smiled.

Cherry gently blew in his face to let the paint and make-up dry quicker.

"This is going to be a show no one will ever forget." Dumbo smiled.

"You got that right, please try not to talk while I do this." Cherry warned.

"Sorry." Dumbo stopped then.

Cherry kept working and once she was finished, she let him go, then put the feather close to him. Dumbo wrapped his trunk around the feather as a good luck charm. And where afterwards, they all got to their positions as crowds of people began to come in to see the circus acts.

* * *

"Wow, that's a huge crowd." Cherry's face paled once she saw there were a lot more people than usual coming to the circus tonight.

The other acts went by and they seemed to go sooner than expected until it was time for the clown act. The mother elephant clown was going hysterical as the act normally went with Dumbo as the baby stuck in a burning building. Timothy was going to stay with Dumbo for emotional support, he had been a real pal and Cherry and Atticus would never forget him.

"Is it just me or is that higher than usual?" Atlas asked.

"I don't know, but I'm glad I'm not up there." Cherry whispered as she stood by with a bull whip in case Dumbo would misbehave, but she knew he wouldn't.

Dumbo looked even more nervous to be up this high, but Timothy kept coaching him and told him to hold onto the magic feather.

"Why do you have a bull whip?" Atticus asked his best friend.

"Ringmaster made me," Cherry said. "Just in case the animals get out of control, I know I'll never use it on Dumbo, but I have to keep it with me."

"I swear, I hate that man more and more." Atlas growled.

Dumbo jumped off the platform and was starting to fall down instantly. The fall was rather strong and Dumbo was falling quicker than anticipated. So much that the feather came out of his trunk.

"Uh-oh, he lost the magic feather!" Cherry got nervous.

"Oh, no, what now?!" Atlas asked out of nervousness.

"All we can do is hope and pray that he can fly without it." Atticus said.

"Prayer doesn't work..." Cherry mumbled due to her skeptical ways.

Dumbo was very nervous, but eventually... The audience looked in shock and wonder as the baby elephant spread out his ears and he started to fly around.

"Wahoo!" Atticus cheered.

"He did it!" Cherry and Atlas cheered for the baby elephant.

* * *

The clowns were scared and they hid in a barrel of water which made the audience laugh. Another clown ended up in a tub of cream pie. Dumbo then started to do some tricks while in the air that wowed the crowd even more.

"This is amazing! You know what would make this even better?" Atticus asked.

"Public humiliation?" Cherry asked.

"Yep." Atticus smiled.

"But how?" Cherry's eyes grew shifty.

"I also think those elephants need their just desserts too." Atlas agreed.

Atticus came up with an idea and began to whisper it all to Cherry and Atlas. Cherry and Atlas leaned in to listen.

Since this was dark and sinister, Cherry had a rather malicious look on her face and she rubbed her hands together like a wicked villian. "Let's do it!"

"Then let's get everything into position." Atticus said.

Cherry and Atlas nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Atticus is always the man with a plan..." Darla commented.

"Jealous..." Amber muttered, but still smiled.

"Some of us can have a plan from time to time." Patch said.

"You know what I mean." Darla retorted.

* * *

Back in the story, Atticus, Atlas, and Cherry were waiting for the right moment. As soon as the moment arrived, the three of them put the plan into action. Dumbo was flying toward the ringmaster now.

The ringmaster panicked and ran off, tripping over a ball and then fell into a barrel of water, headfirst. And where luckily he had the contracts that held Atticus, Cherry, and Atlas in the circus against their will. Dumbo had the mother elephant mask also placed on the ringmaster's butt which made the audience laugh.

Cherry noticed paper and took it out to show her, Atticus, and Atlas's contracts. "I'm no lawyer, but I think these contracts are beyond saving, which means, you don't own us anymore!"

"Yep and where since you don't have copies of these, we can do this." Atticus and Atlas said before they both ripped the contracts to shreds.

"You can't do that!" the ringmaster tried to get himself free.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you have no legal right or authority of us anymore." Atlas agreed, shockingly enough for the ringmaster.

"Yeah and after tonight, we are out of here and going back where we belong!" Atticus told the ringmaster.

"You can't!" the ringmaster protested.

"We can and will!" Cherry said, determined and strong.

Dumbo sucked up peanuts from the cart and beaned them at the female elephants. They may had been friends with his mother, but they were bullies to him, so he decided to give them a taste of their own medicine. And where they didn't seem to like this at all, but they did indeed deserve it.

"You're making history!" Timothy praised Dumbo.

The crowd loved Dumbo and thought he was great, no longer making fun of his large ears. And where this was indeed going to be history in the making.


	14. Chapter 14

"Ya guys wanna come with?" Timothy asked. "I can make ya as big as Dumbo!"

"Thanks a lot, Timothy, but we're gonna go back where we belong," Cherry smiled. "Take good care of Dumbo for us. We'll never forget you."

"Yeah." Atticus smiled.

"Okay, I will, take care, you three." Timothy smiled.

"Take care." Cherry, Atticus, and Atlas said, waving to their new mouse friend.

Timothy smiled and scampered off to join Dumbo, returning to the circus since they belonged there.

"Come on, guys, I'll take ya home." Atlas told the kids.

"Thanks, Atlas." Atticus smiled.

"It's the least I could do after the way I behaved the first time we met." Atlas said.

Cherry gave a nod.

"Sorry about that by the way when we first," Atlas chuckled sheepishly. "Guess being in the spotlight brought out the worst in me..."

"It does that to most of us." Atticus shrugged.

Atlas then got a car before it tried to drive away with two criminals in it.

"What the!?" Cherry noticed.

"HEY! What's the big id-" One of the criminals was about to shout at Atlas before seeing that he was shouting at the strongman and started to become nervous.

Atlas snarled and stormed over. "Whatcha up to, fellas?"

"Atlas, thank you so much for stopping those two robbers," A police officer smiled after arriving with another officer. "They were about to get with $10,000 Dollars."

"Aw, it was nuthin'." Atlas smiled sheepishly.

Cherry and Atticus came to Atlas's sides.

"What happened?" Cherry asked.

"We've been trying to catch these robbers forever, but this guy helped us." the other officer told her.

"In return, you can have their car they stole." The first officer told them.

"Wait a minute, this is my car!" Atlas glared at the robbers after seeing the license plate that once belonged to the exact same car he stopped.

"It is?" the other officer asked.

Atlas scoffed, though not at the cops, to the robbers. "Yeah!"

"Wow, what a major coincidence." Cherry commented.

"Yeah." The robbers said nervously.

"You can send them straight to the prison if you would like." The officer said to the strongman before placing both robbers in front of Atlas.

"Oh, I dunno..." Atlas smiled shyly. "What do you guys think?" he then turned to Cherry and Atticus.

"Give them both an uppercut straight to jail!" Atticus and Cherry told him.

"Sure..." Atlas smiled darkly to the robbers.

The robbers looked to each other with gulps. Without another word, Atlas did just that and sent them straight to jail where they belonged. And where they both felt pain in their jaws from the uppercuts.

"Well, I better get these two back where they belong." Atlas said, referring to Atticus and Cherry.

"Have a good day, sir." the first officer said.

"You too, kids." the other officer added.

"We sure will." Atlas, Cherry, and Atticus smiled.

The officers nodded to them and let them go. Atlas went to his car and started it since the key was still in the ignition.

"So those guys stole your car?" Cherry asked.

"They must have stolen it the day I signed that blasted contract." Atlas said.

"That sounds about right." Atticus said as he sat in the backseat, hooking his seat-belt.

"Where to?" Atlas asked.

Cherry gave him her home address.

"Both of you then?" Atlas then asked just to make sure.

"Yes." Atticus and Cherry said.

Atticus and Cherry waited eagerly and in anticipation as they were on their way back home.

* * *

Since the circus ground was so far from home, the kids slept in the backseat at some points while waiting anxiously to get home. Atlas only woke them up when they had to stop at a gas station and would again, when they would be at Cherry's house. At one point Atticus got to sit up front with Atlas so then he could know where the house he is looking for is. Cherry normally would sit up front due to her carsickness, but due to being exhausted from this circus adventure she had with Atticus, she lay down in the back and was able to fall asleep.

"That's a good friend ya got there." Atlas smiled to Atticus.

"She really is, she's my best friend." Atticus said.

"You know, maybe until your family is found, maybe you could stay with me and my family." Atlas said.

Atticus thought about that, it was a nice offer though. "Ummm... I dunno... I've known Cherry for a long time..."

"I'm sure you could visit her from time to time." Atlas assured him.

"Hmm..." Atticus hummed.

Cherry lightly snored as she hugged her jacket, using it as a blanket.

They were about ten blocks away from Cherry's house.

"There's my house." Atlas smiled, seeing a red building.

"You live around Cherry?" Atticus asked.

"Huh?" Atlas looked to him.

Atticus pointed to Cherry's house as they passed it.

"Huh, what're the odds?" Atlas chuckled.

"Well, then, I guess if it's only ten blocks away from her house, then yes, I will accept your offer." Atticus smiled.

"I promise that you can visit her all you want," Atlas smiled back. "I'd never split up two best friends."

"Thank you Atlas that means a lot to the both of us." Atticus smiled, referring to himself and Cherry.

"No problem, kiddos." Atlas smiled.

* * *

Once they reached Cherry's house, she instantly woke up, already having the feeling they had finally arrived at her house.

"You up?" Atlas asked.

Cherry yawned and stretched and had a small smile since she knew she was home. "Mm-hmm..."

"It was really nice meeting you two," Atlas said to the kids. "Now remember, if you're ever so humble, there's no place like home."

"Yep." Atticus and Cherry nodded.

The three of them then went up to Cherry's house. Cherry knocked on the door and then ran behind Atlas with Atticus.

Bud opened the door, he had a very stoic and blank look on his face. "May I help you?" he asked, his voice sounding like it was going to break.

"Would this be the house of Cherry Butler?" Atlas asked.

"Yes, but..." Bud said before he sounded emotional, he usually had a very low and deep voice, but if you knew him for a long tiem, you would tell when his voice would change emotions.

"But what?" Atlas asked the man of the house.

"She... She doesn't live here anymore..." Bud said, clearly devastated.

"Oh, then I guess we must have came to the wrong house." Atlas said, showing Cherry and Atticus.

"C-Cherry...?" Bud asked.

"Daddy..." Cherry called back.

"Cherry Girl!" Bud cheered, then hugged his daughter nice and tight. "Oh... I thought we'd never see you again..."

"I've missed you and Mom so much." Cherry said.

"We missed you too..." Bud smiled, letting her go so she could breathe.

Atlas smiled at the reunion. Atticus was happy too, but was jealous. After the happy reunion, Atticus and Atlas told them about the strongman's offer to the boy to stay with his family until his family could be found and would still see Cherry once in a while. Atticus was getting his stuff out of the guest room though and packing up to stay with Atlas from now on.

"So then I'll see you around, right?" Cherry asked while helping her best friend pack.

* * *

"Yeah," Atticus said. "Anything, you're my best friend."

"Just kinda sad to see ya go," Cherry said. "We've lived with each other side-by-side and now you're gone... We haven't found your family, but you're leaving."

"I won't be too far away, just ten blocks away from your house." Atticus assured her.

"You take care of yourself now..." Cherry said softly.

Cherry smiled in the hug, but then winced. Atticus had accidentally hugged tighter.

"Atticus!" Cherry gasped, coughing slightly. "Atticus, I know we're best friends, but could you loosen your grip? I don't wanna call a chiropractor every time we hug!"

"Oops, sorry, I forgot how strong I am now." Atticus said, loosening his grip.

Cherry rubbed her back. "At least you can't get any stronger than this..." she said with a weak chuckle.

"Bye, Cherry." Atticus said to her before going out of the house to meet his new family.

"Bye, Atticus..." Cherry nodded and let him go.

"You'll like my family." Atlas smiled while they drove back to his family's house.

"I hope so." Atticus smiled in excitement.

* * *

To Atticus's surprise, the moment they got inside Atlas's family's house; he saw three other strongmen and two women.

"I'm home!" Atlas happily called to his family.

"Atlas!" His family smiled, welcoming him back in with a dog pile/hug.

Atticus stood back with a small smile. Atlas laughed as he reunited with his family.

"Who's your friend, little bro?" The second strongman asked as soon as he noticed Atticus.

"This is Atticus, he's going to be staying with us a while," Atlas introduced. "Atticus, this is my family: Those are my brothers, Brutus and Butch, and my sisters, Vera and Lotta."

"Nice to meet you all." Atticus smiled.

"And this is our father Hercules, named after the Greek hero." Butch said.

"Hercules, huh?" Atticus smirked.

"You know him?" Brutus asked.

"Yeah, you have no idea..." Atticus laughed at his little inside joke.

"Hmm... Let's how strong you are, boy." Hercules smirked.

"You better not make another mess!" Another female voice called out from the kitchen.

"Let me guess, that would be the mother, right?" Atticus asked Atlas.

"Aren't all moms the same?" Atlas chuckled.

"True." Atticus shrugged.

"Don't worry, Marianne, it won't be that bad." Hercules assured his wife.

"Good, because I don't want to clean up another mess..." Marianne said before she saw Atlas.

Atlas smiled to her.

"Oh, Atlas, you're home!" Marianne sounded touched. "I didn't think we'd see you again."

"You should thank Atticus that I'm back, without him, I wouldn't have ripped the contract, freeing me from that jerk." Atlas said.

* * *

"So, um, how long did you stay with Atlas's family?" Amber asked Atticus.

"For a few weeks before the Fourth of July happened and during my stay with them, the guys would wrestle with me or even arm wrestle with me and continue to exercise with me." Atticus said.

"Did you still go to school with Cherry?" Patch asked.

"Of course, but this was during the summer, so we didn't have much of school until I'd meet my family while we would visit James and Elizabeth." Atticus smiled at that memory. "What a Fourth of July holiday... I got to reunite with my family and meet the girl of my dreams..."

"Yeah, Mo, your girlfriend." Amber and Darla teased.

Atticus deeply blushed. "Yeah..."

"Did Dumbo ever reunite with his mother?" Patch asked.

Cherry and Atticus were about to say something until a tiny mail truck was passing by, it appeared to have a mouse driver. The others looked curious, then followed after the mail truck, curious where it could be going.

"Maybe it's from Timothy." Patch smiled.

* * *

The mail mouse stepped out just as Jerry came out curiously and the mail mouse handed an envelope for him. Jerry smiled, shaking paws with the mail mouse and took his envelope with an excited smile.

"Who's it from, Jerry?" Patch asked.

Jerry came over to them and showed them he had a letter from his cousin Timothy. Cherry and Atticus smiled to this. Jerry opened the envelope, he saw a flyer for the circus and an important headline that said 'Flying Elephant Reunited At Last with Mother'.

"Looks like Dumbo got to be reunited with his mother." Amber smiled.

Jerry walked over to the group and looked through the letter from his long-lost cousin in the circus and hugged it as he knew Timothy was okay and well, making a bright and better future for himself. A mouse trap was scooted over to Jerry with a block of cheese on it. Jerry glanced at the trap, then pulled a 'Are you kidding me?' look on his face, then snatched the cheese and pushed the trap onto a gray and white tail, snapping it.

There was a yell of pain heard and Tom came to chase Jerry. Jerry ran from Tom, but then stopped him and showed him the letter from Timothy. Tom read it and where he was surprised by this. Jerry smiled and held out his arms. Tom smiled back and held out his arms, giving Jerry a hug. The two shook paws and then Jerry ran off. Tom shook still, then glared as Jerry got away and chased the mouse again.

"Do those two ever learn?" Darla sighed at the cat and mouse.

"Nope." Atticus said.

"I might as well join in to make sure nothing bad happens." Patch said.

"Oh, boy..." Amber sighed.

Patch then went after Tom and Jerry. "You guys knock that off right now!"

"Lunch!" Emily called from inside.

"Oh, boy, lunch!" Darla beamed and ran inside the house.

"Better get inside before the food's gone." Atticus said.

"Slow down, Darla, haven't you heard of 'guest's first'?" Amber chased her best friend playfully.

"First is the worst, second is the best!" Darla giggled.

* * *

It took Patch quite a while, but he was finally able to catch up with Tom and Jerry and keep the Tom cat from hurting Jerry or even eating him.

"Enough!" Patch growled.

Tom and Jerry stopped their chase and fight, pointing to each other, trying to look innocent.

"You can talk now you know? Ever since we met Robyn." Patch said.

"Oh, right, well, anyway, he started it!" Jerry said, pointing to the tom cat.

"I did not, it was all you, and you know it!" Tom retorted.

Patch sighed and rolled his eyes. "What am I going to do with you two?"

"Keep Tom from trying to hit me or keep him from trying to eat me?" Jerry suggested.

"You two do not make it easy..." Patch sighed. "What would Pugsley and Frankie say if they saw you two right now, huh?"

"They would remind us that we have to be friends." Jerry and Tom sighed.

"Right... If you guys can be friends with me, a puppy, as in a dog, then you two can be friends." Patch said then.

"Fine, we'll stop fighting, but it'll feel weird." Tom said.

"Come on then..." Patch led them back home.

Tom and Jerry then followed the Dalmatian puppy, they only gave looks to each other.

"And you can do your usually chases, but Tom, don't eat Jerry!" Patch told the cat.

"No promises on that last one..." Tom shrugged.

"TOM!" Patch glared at the cat.

"I-I'll try..." Tom shrugged again.

Patch sighed. "Fair enough... Now, where's Robyn?"

"Out with her dad, but they'll be back for lunch." Jerry said.

"That's great." Patch smiled.

"Before I forget, me and Jerry will be staying at Robyn's uncle's house with Robyn while her dad is off to work for a while." Tom said.

"Robyn has an uncle?" Patch asked.

"Yeah, who knew?" Jerry shrugged with a small smile.

Patch then remembered 'Aunt Figg'. "Is he really her uncle or...?"

"He's really her uncle and get this; he's a wizard." Tom said.

"No way!" Patch couldn't believe it.

"Way." Tom and Jerry nodded.

"That's so awesome! Let's hope that he's nice." Patch smiled.

"I hear he can be strict when it comes to rules, but hopefully we all get along." Tom shrugged.

Robyn came out to see her cat and mouse. "Were you guys chasing each other again?"

"Sorry, Robyn, old habits are hard to break." Jerry replied.

"Well, I hope you don't do that while we're staying at my uncle's house." Robyn said.

Tom and Jerry looked to each other.

"I didn't know you had an uncle, Robyn." Cherry said.

"Oops, sorry about not telling you about him." Robyn said sheepishly.

"That's okay." Cherry said with a shrug.

"I better get inside for lunch." Patch said.

Tom and Jerry waved to the puppy. Patch nodded, then went inside to join his family for lunch. Cherry now wondered what to do while Tom and Jerry left back to their new home with Robyn. She decided to just spend sometime with her family.

* * *

"So, you girls going to join the circus?" Emily asked as a joke as she served grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Darla drank down her orange juice and looked to her adoptive mother. "I think maybe if I get the chance, I'll become an actress again when I'm a little bit older," she then said. "Being a child actor is exhausting."

"It sure looks like it." Amber said.

"Was it really all that bad?" Patch asked curiously.

"I had a tight schedule," Darla told them, memorizing her day in the life of her fame and glory when she was beloved by all until the incident. "6:45, wake up. 7:15, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, comb hair, 7:30, leave home, 8:00 until 12:50, film for a movie or meet important people, 1:30, eat lunch, 2:00, back to work, 5:30, come home for dinner, 6:00, take a bath, 6:30, get ready for bed, 8:00, go to bed, Repeat until next morning."

"Yikes." Patch said.

"Tell me about it..." Darla groaned. "No friends... No family... Just me and the spotlight... It sounded glamorous when I was a little girl, but now it's more like a prison than a luxury..."

Amber hugged Darla. "You got us."

Darla smiled to Amber and hugged her back. Everyone started to eat their lunch, enjoying the day.

The End


End file.
